Celebrate the Spring Equinox on the 22 September with these beautiful floral shortbreads infused with orange blossom and vanilla (from a vanilla orchid!) and decorated with edible flowers. 

Find the recipe below or get the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Vanilla and Orange Blossom Shortbreads

Level: easy

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 15-20 min 

Makes: 20 

Ingredients:

250g salted butter, softened

4 tbsp golden caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle

50g (80ml) cornstarch

220g (420ml) cake flour

1 ½ tsp orange blossom water

1 gourmet vanilla bean, split

edible flowers, to decorate

1 egg white, whisked

golden caster sugar, for sprinkling

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy – about 8 minutes.
2. Sift together the cornstarch and flour and add to the butter mixture to form a soft dough. Mix in the orange blossom water and add the scraped vanilla seeds (see note).  
3. Roll out the dough ½ cm thick on a lightly floured surface then cut shapes using a round cookie cutter just big enough for the size of the flowers. We used a 5cm cutter. 
4. Place on a lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. 
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden around the edges. 
6. Meanwhile, gently wash the flowers in cool water and drain well. Place the flowers stem side up on clean paper towels for about 15 minutes to dry. Using scissors, cut the stems off. Be careful not to cut too far down so the flower won’t break apart. Turn the flowers over to finish drying. 
7. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white and 1 tablespoon of water until well blended. Lightly brush the tops of each cookie with the egg mixture. Place 1 flower on each cookie and lightly brush the flowers all over with the egg wash. Sprinkle the cookies with caster sugar and return to the baking sheets. 
8. Bake the cookies for an additional 5 minutes, or until the flowers have dried onto the cookies. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.

NOTE: Here’s what to do with your used vanilla bean after the seeds have been scraped:

VANILLA EXTRACT: Place the deseeded vanilla bean in a bottle and top up with vodka or glycerine to make your own vanilla extract. Leave for at least 4 weeks to infuse.

VANILLA SUGAR: place the vanilla bean in a jar of sugar and allow it to infuse.

VANILLA POWDER: once the bean has been used in the vanilla sugar, roast it in an oven at 180 degrees celsius for 5 minutes then grind it up in a blender or spice grinder to make vanilla powder.