Chef Patrice Shortbread Reviewed

Have you ever had a childhood memory tied up in food? I have that with shortbread. To me, it is part of the agonising countdown to Christmas. Shortbread is part of the long wait as they age to a degree when they are nicer during the lead up to Old Stain Nick coming down the chimney and leaving gifts.

Considering the excellent baker my mom is (and yes, you can buy her baked goods directly from her but only directly from her) and the fact I made muffins both burned and raw at the same time, you can imagine for me, shortbread is something sacred. And so it is always with some modicum of trepidation that I approach each new foray into the world of shortbread.

Generally I’m sure that most of you, like me, are left flat by conventional cookies. Mass-market shortbread is not for us. No, we are made of better stuff and we expect more from our shortbread.

This shortbread was like a buttery-floury-sugary orgasm in my mouth! The marbles was a brilliantly balanced flavour with clear cocoa notes and delicious buttery crumbly texture. The chocolate chip had delicate small chips in a perfect shortbread base. The plain shortbread, most difficult, was perfectly baked, perfectly mixed and therefore perfectly delightful in my mouth. The espresso – my goodness the strong coffee flavour – you can actually *taste* the marbling with each layer of coffee a clarion bell on your tongue. The butterscotch aged a few days into perfection of chewy sweet brilliance after starting as a crunchy delightful mess.

I’d recommend hunting down wherever you can buy these shortbread from and only ever buy them from now on. You’ll only be disappointed and these – these are sheer brilliance! Even better than the last time if you can believe it!