Valentine’s Brittany Shortbreads by Jennifer Pogmore

Try these gorgeous Valentine’s Brittany Shortbreads, or Little French Hearts, made and photographed by Jennifer Pogmore, Pastry Chef to French Chateau Gudanes.

Makes 12 shortbreads with an 8cm / 3.2” heart-shaped cutter

Ingredients

Brittany Shortbread (Sablé Breton)

115g unsalted butter
115g caster sugar
60g egg yolks (3-4 yolks)
160g all-purpose flour
10g baking powder
½ tsp salt

Whipped white chocolate ganache (Ganache montée chocolat blanc)

180g white chocolate
100ml whipping cream (30% fat content minimum)
1 tsp vanilla extract
140ml whipping cream (30% fat content minimum)
100g raspberry jam

Decoration

250g fresh raspberries
Icing sugar for dusting

Method

Brittany Shortbread

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks, then add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until a dough forms (the dough will be a little sticky to the touch).

Shape into a flattened ball, cover with plastic film and chill in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight.

Roll out the dough to form a sheet 6mm / ¼ inch thick. Place on a baking tray lined with paper and bake in a preheated (fan) oven at 160°C / 320F for 10 minutes. Remove the tray and using a cookie cutter, press the cutter in the semi-cooked sheet of dough to cut out your shortbreads, ensuring you press all the way down to the tray. Return the sheet of dough to the oven for 5-10 minutes until the dough is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and recut the shortbreads if necessary, then leave to cool for 5 minutes and remove the offcuts.

Whipped white chocolate ganache

Gently melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a hot water bath or in the microwave. Heat the 100ml of cream with the vanilla in a pot and bring to a simmer. Pour half of the hot cream over the white chocolate. Stir gently with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula in a circular motion until the cream and chocolate have mixed together to make a smooth ganache. Pour the second half of the hot cream over the chocolate and gently stir again until smooth.

Add the 140ml of cold cream to the mixture and mix to incorporate, ensuring no melted chocolate is left at the bottom of the bowl (if you have a handheld blender, you can use this to emulsify the mixture).

Cover with plastic wrap, touching the surface of your ganache and leave to chill for 12 hours or overnight.

Assembly

Take the ganache out of the fridge and whip until it begins to firm up and hold in your whisk. Whisk in the raspberry jam.

Using a star-shaped piping tip, pipe ganache onto your shortbreads and place on your raspberries. You can equally use the back of a spoon to smooth ganache onto each shortbread then place on your raspberries.

Dust with a little icing sugar and voilà!

Your Brittany shortbreads will keep in the fridge for 2 days.

Bon Appetit!

Find gorgeous inspiration for all things baking and French baking at Jennifer Pogmore.