Toffee shortbread for St. Kilda
The book: The Lost Lights of St. Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford
Genre: Historical fiction/romance
Published: 2020
The bake: Shortbread with homemade toffee pieces
What’s the story?
This novel and its beautiful love story will stay with you long after you turn the last page. It’s all about love: love for family, for home, for nature, and love between a man and a woman. The story plays out mostly in 1927 and 1941. The plot in 1927 takes place on Hirta, the main island in the remote St. Kilda island group off the coast of Scotland. Chrissie Gillies is an islander who has always had a soft spot for Archie Macleod, the son of the laird (owner) of the islands. However, in 1927 when Archie and his friend Fred Lawson come to stay on the island for the summer to do some research for their Cambridge degrees, her heart begins to change.
In 1941 Fred is in France during the Second World War and trying to find his way home after escaping from a prison camp. These chapters caused me to hold my breath because danger and betrayal lurk around every corner. Fred’s path crosses with Archie’s again, and it’s the conclusion of a chapter in their lives that started on the island in 1927. Will relationships be mended, and can a love gone cold be rekindled?
I love how delicately this story has been woven, and how the thread runs true across the years the characters live through. It was especially touching to read about the last years of the community on St. Kilda (the islands were evacuated in 1930). I had to do some googling to read more about this fascinating place and I hope I may be able to visit it one day!
Why read it?
I’m always attracted to stories set during either of the two World Wars. Stories spanning different decades also pique my interest. The added bonus of this novel is the wild yet whimsical island setting of some of the action. I love Elisabeth Gifford’s books – her Secrets of the Sea House is one of my all-time favorites. The Lost Lights of St. Kilda certainly didn’t disappoint. I learned about the existence of islands I’d never heard of before, and a way of life that is now part of history. Imagine hunting seabirds like puffins and living totally off the land! Gifford has done careful research to recreate life on St. Kilda in its last days at the end of the 1920s. Reading this book is time-travel at its finest. The story is beautifully written, sometimes I had to re-read some passages because they are just so hauntingly beautiful.
The book is an easy read, I finished it in about three days (mainly because I couldn’t put it down!). I really can’t recommend it enough.
Pair it with: Shortbread with homemade toffee pieces
The recipe I paired with this book, was inspired by a paragraph on page 40: “In the near gloom of the souterrain, we lit a fire of dried grass and peat and sat an old iron dish on top, pouring in the sugar while I said spells. We watched it melt and turn brown, adding a piece of stolen butter as I stirred and stirred fast with a stick. Out on the grass, to the cracked bells of sheep calls, we showed Archie how to tip the mixture onto a flat stone so that it cooled. Then we sat around it, peeling off the toffee, chewing the heavenly substance slowly…”
After reading that, I just HAD to make something with homemade toffee! Since the novel is set on an island of the Scottish coast (and later in the book, on the Scottish mainland) I decided on that quintessential Scottish biscuit: shortbread. The addition of the chewy toffee pieces to the shortbread elevates it from yummy to absolutely decadent. Delicious with your morning tea or coffee, or as a naughty midnight snack.
I used cake flour from the fabulous Gideon Milling to make the shortbread. The recipe requires quite a lot of flour, so it’s important to use the best you can find. Gideon Milling produces stone-ground flour. The flour is ground at slower speeds and lower heat which means the protein stays intact. The result is a healthier, more digestible flour, perfect for baking!
The toffee recipe was adapted from the blog zestous.com, and the shortbread is a family favorite we’ve been making for years. It comes from the book Huisgenoot Wenresepte 2000 by Carmen Niehaus.
Shortbread with homemade toffee pieces
6
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
- For the toffee pieces:
1/2 cup butter
113 g sugar
30 ml water
a pinch of salt
- For the shortbread:
200 ml cornflour
500 ml flour
250 g butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup castor sugar, plus some extra for sprinkling
Directions
- Place all the ingredients for the toffee in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Allow to boil for about 8 minutes until nicely brown (don’t stir). If you have a candy thermometer, it should read 300°F. Pour onto a baking sheet lined with a silpat and spread thinly. Allow to cool before breaking up into small pieces. I did this by putting it into a plastic bag and bashing it with a rolling pin. Be careful of making the pieces too small, you don’t want toffee powder!
- Preheat your oven to 200°C or 400°F. Line a square cakepan (21 cm) with baking paper.
- Sift the cornflour and cake flour together two times. Beat the butter for about two minutes until light and fluffy. Add the castor sugar and continue to beat. Add the flour mixture and beat until a soft dough forms. Stir in a handful of the homemade toffee pieces (don’t use all of it!).
- Press the dough into the prepared cake pan and cut into squares of 2cm x 2cm (don’t cut all the way through, just score the lines so you can easily cut them after baking). Sprinkle some extra castor sugar over the shortbread. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 160°C or 320°F and bake for about 30 minutes until lightly straw-colored. Allow to cool and then cut the squares all the way through. Store in an airtight container. Any leftover toffee pieces must also be stored airtight. Sprinkle over ice cream or use it in muffins or other bakes.
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