Shortbread bars with whisky marmalade
I’ve been a little absent from these parts and my beloved Drizzle and Dip because life and work swept me away for a while. Over the last year, I have been working on a huge project and I can finally say that I have just finished writing and producing my second cookbook. I handed it over to my publisher last week and I’m so ridiculously excited. I can’t say too much about the theme of the book other than it will be very different from my first and is aligned very closely with my biggest foodie passions.
It’s been on the cards for a while and was originally going to be published by Penguin, but then it got caught up with the merger with Random House. So now I’m being published by Penguin Random House South Africa, and as South Africa’s biggest publisher of cookbooks, I’m very happy about this. I’ve got a long time to wait before seeing it in the flesh but already I cannot wait.
So my life is slowly starting to come back to normal again and I loved working on this post. I’ve used my homemade whisky marmalade – which is a new recipe from my book (recipe here).
I added an extra 2 teaspoons to mine too and used Johnnie Walker Black Label. Its got lovely citrus peel flavour notes and a smooth smokiness so works perfectly with orange marmalade. My orange tree is filled with big ripe navel oranges so it just felt like the right thing to make.
The recipe for the shortbread is slightly adapted from ‘The Great British Bakeoff Everyday‘ – a stunning book based on the TV series, which I was given when I went to the BBC Entertainment Upfront event recently. I added orange zest to the mix and then finished it off with my whisky marmalade and a crumble topping. It worked out perfectly.
These bars are less sweet than their jammy siblings, but I quite like the slightly bitter note. Use the very best marmalade you can find.
The recipe for my easy whisky marmalade can be found here
Use the easiest 8-minute small-batch apricot jam as an alternative to marmalade if you prefer. It’s one of my best jam recipes.
A few other biscuits and bar recipes you might like:
The best shortbread biscuit balls with chocolate middles
Gooey oat bars with fruit, nuts & dark chocolate
Cheesecake brownies with chocolate romany creams
The best ever vanilla whipped shortbread biscuits (cookies)
Double chocolate chip skillet cookie
White chocolate, cranberry and macadamia cookies
Shortbread bars with whisky marmalade
Ingredients
- 220 g butter
- 30 g icing sugar
- 80 g caster sugar
- zest of an orange
- 30 g cornflour
- 300 g flour
- 1 cup marmalade
- 2 – 3t whisky
- icing sugar to dust
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 160C / 325 F and line a 20cm x 25cm tin, or as I did a 26cm x 16cm tin with baking paper.
- Using an electric mixer beat the butter and icing sugar together, then add the caster sugar and zest and beat well.
- Sift the corn flour and flour together and add this to the mixer. Mix briefly on low until there is a coarse crumb texture.
- Tip ¾ of the dough mixture into the tin and very gently spread it around the base. Don’t press down to hard but try and ensure the surface is evenly covered. Prick the surface area of the dough with a fork (multiple times).
- Mix the marmalade and whisky together and spread this out over the shortbread dough.
- Crumble the remaining 1/3 of the dough over the top and bake for 45 – 50 minutes until a light golden brown.
- Cut the biscuits / bars into squares while still warn and then allow to fully cool. Dust with icing sugar to serve (optional)
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I can’t wait to see your new cookbook. Let me guess.. does it have a lot of ice cream recipes? don’t answer that 🙂
Thanks Euodia. it may or may not 😉
My mom used to make these with apricot jam. I loved it!
These look amazing though, I would love to try me some whisky with marmalade. 😀
How exciting to have finally finished your second book! I’m just in the first round of edits of mine and although I’m loving every second, I can’t wait for the feeling when it’s finished, too.
Love your recipes – Drizzle and Dip my favourite recipe book – but my enthusiasm floats out of the window when it comes to 50 g of icing sugar, 30 g castpr sugar, etc (e.g.as in the marmalade shortbread). Could teasps, Tablesps, half cup etc not be added in brackets for those who do not have a scale? Thankyou Sam
I can’t wait to read your cookbook! I am such a huge fan, congratulations! Oh and I am so in love with shortbread lately – YUM.
Hi Yvonne – I very often do use these, Im a big fan of cup measurements. If you are a keen baker – it really is a good investment to get a scale though. Its imperative actually for accuracy. Its widely accepted, especially in baking to write recipes in weights.
Congrats Kate that is so exciting. Yes, the volume of work is quite extraordinary. A lovely feeling to get it done.x
Thanks Meghan 🙂 (I cant get enough of shortbread either)
Mmmm! These look like the most perfect bars; I can imagine how nice the bitter citrus and tart whiskey are with the buttery crust. Thank you for sharing! So excited for your second book – congratulations!!
Congratulations on your second cookbook! These shortbread bars look absolutely delicious and stunning. Can taste it through the screen. 🙂
I am looking forward to your new cookbook and your homemade whisky marmalade recipe. So excited for you and congratulations 🙂
So happy for you next cookbook!! Can’t wait for the release. In the meantime, I’d happily enjoy these delicious bars. With whisky of course 😉
Gorgeous bars and congratulations on your second book, what an incredible feat! 🙂
Thanks Laura xx
Thanks for the kind words Kiran xx
Thanks Pang. I think Ive done soemthing quite revolutionary with the marmalade and cant wait for it to be revealed. Sam
Thanks Cristina 🙂
Thanks Alanna 🙂 – yes there is a definite bitter tinge and they are less sweet than their jam counterpart.
awesome recipe again sam. love it! definitely will be making this in the future, love the idea of a whisky marmalade… thanks for sharing.
Looks great!! Perfect for a little snack 🙂
i never thought of putting whiskey in bars, but it looks good!
Eeeee, congratulations on the book!! And these bars look SO good. I want one right now 😉
Thanks Brandon 🙂
i made it from half a portion in a smaller pan, using shortbread only as a base. to top the bars i used grated cake that did not work out so well but i still wanted to repurpose.
the bars came out excellent. the proportion are good, the recipe works wonderfully. thank you.
Hi Dots, thanks for the comment. I can’t quite imagine what grated cake is but it doesn’t sound right. My ratios were developed using marmalade (or any other jam). Glad you were happy with the shortbread part.