Ginger Shortbread

I was happy to have borrowed this book from the library - Cakes & Bakes, published by Parragon Books Ltd. The recipes in the book looked simple and good. Therefore, I was tempted to try it last night. I decided on Ginger (Topped) Fingers. Instead of adding the toppings, I left the shortbread as it is. It was crispy and fragrant. However, it was also very crumbly.

My colleagues tried them and commented that they will be good as cheesecake base. I also agree. Therefore, the next time when I bake cheesecake, I will likely use this shortbread as the base. Try it and you know what I meant.

Recipe for Ginger (Topped) Fingers or Shortbread, extracted from Cakes & Bakes.
(Those in brackets are from original recipe.)

Ingredients:
175g Butter, plus extra for greasing
225g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Ground ginger (1tsp Ground ginger)
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon (without this)
75g Brown sugar (85g Golden caster sugar)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9" round tart pan.
2. Sift the flour, ground ginger and cinnamon into a bowl and stir in the sugar.
3. Rub in the butter until the mixture begins to stick together.
4. Press the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a palette knife.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 40mins, or until very lightly browned.

Ginger Toppings (which I totally left out, for your reference)
1 tbsp Golden syrup
55g Butter
2 tbsp Icing sugar
1 tsp Ground ginger

Method:
1. Place the syrup and butter in small suacepan over a low heat and stir until melted.
2. Stir in the icing sugar and ginger.
3. Remove the shortbread base from the oven and pour the topping over it while both are still hot.
4. Leave to cool slightly in the tin, then cut.
5. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.