Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons ground cubeb pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground or freshly grated calabash nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 4 ounces butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
- 2 ounces caster sugar
- 6 ounces all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tablespoon Ghanaian Five-Spice Mix (recipe above)
- powdered sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Chef notes
This is a super-simple, earthy tasting shortbread recipe that combines sweet and savory notes and smells unfathomably like Christmas!
Swap option: If you can't find cubeb pepper, replace with 2:1 ratio ground allspice and course ground black peppercorns.
Preparation
For the Ghanaian Five-Spice Mix:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Store in an airtight container. Will keep for a few months.
For the shortbread:
1.Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2.Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.
3.Mix in the flour and spice mix until you have a smooth dough.
4.Turn out on to a lightly floured work surface and gently roll out until the dough is 1/2-inch thick.
5.Cut into bars with a knife, or into your desired shapes using cutters, and place on a greased baking tray.
6.Sprinkle with icing sugar, if you like, and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
7.Bake for 15-20 minutes or until pale golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack and and sprinkle with powdered sugar once cooled, if desired.
Reprinted from Zoe's Ghana Kitchen by Zoe Adjonyoh, published by Mitchell Beazley. Copyright © 2017.
