Citrus Cardamom Shortbread

I absolutely love Earl Grey tea. I would go so far as to say that it's one of my top 10 flavours! 

I treated myself to a cup of this lovely stuff yesterday from TeaPigs (any tea lovers really need to take a look at their website - it's tea heaven!). 

The only downside to my civilized afternoon was a lack of biscuits... I really do need biscuits with my tea, don't you?!

Well, I decided that shortbread would be the very thing.

To accompany the gorgeous bergamot citrus flavours of this tea, I have added delicate lemon, lime and cardamom flavours that I think work really well. Let me know what you think. 

Preheat your oven to 170°C.

• Cream together 225g butter and 100g caster sugar.
• Gently stir in 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 250g plain flour
• Add the zest of 2 limes, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice (or a few drops of lemon flavouring)
• Then take the seeds from 8-10 cardamom pods, crush them to a powder and add them to the mixture
• Stir the mixture. Once it starts to clump together use your fingers to gently press the mixture together into a soft dough
• Put the dough in the fridge for 10 mins (otherwise it will fall apart when you roll it out)
• Flour the surface and roll it out to about 1cm thick
• Use a small cutter (it will make around 25 biscuits) to cut the mixture into small circles
• Put them onto a lightly floured tray and put back into the fridge for 5 mins (this is not essential but it will help your biscuits to hold their shape in the oven so they wont spread out and become too thin)
• Bake for around 10 mins until the shortbread has just a hint of golden colour
• Take them out and sprinkle with caster sugar while they are hot
• Leave them to cool and store in a tin (they'll keep for around a week)

If you don't like the sound of any of the flavours then it will work just as well without them (just add a little vanilla for a plain but delicious alternative).

I hope that you will enjoy them with your afternoon tea - whatever your brew of choice!