For Tilly Pamment, cakes don’t need to be fussy or fancy. In fact, uncomplicated recipes with simple, seasonal ingredients can be the key to comfort and contentment.

The Blue Mountains food writer and photographer’s first cookbook, The Plain Cake Appreciation Society, celebrated easy home-made bakes you can make any day of the week.

“My heart will forever belong to simple cakes. To the kind of humble cakes that sit on kitchen tables in ordinary houses all around the world,” she wrote in the introduction.

“To the kind of generous cakes that are sliced and shared until only crumbs remain and are, somehow, more than the sum of their parts. They are cake-love and connection.”

Her new collection, Handfuls of Sunshine, returns with more than 70 equally delicious bakes, this time in bite-sized form, perfect for sharing or storing.

Here, Pamment shares her recipe for citrus shortbread, which she describes as “a perfect standby sweet treat”.

– Megan Johnston

Very short lemon shortbread

Delightfully unassuming, these biscuits may sound (and look) rather unremarkable – but can I just say, in the middle of a busy day, one of these with a cup of tea makes a huge difference. I sighed audibly when I first ate one, and that is always a very good sign. Delicately short and buttery, with just enough zing from the lemon zest, these biscuits keep exceptionally well. And surely nothing is so reassuring as a full biscuit tin? Do take the time to rub the lemon zest into the sugar well before you cream it with the butter – not only is it thoroughly therapeutic, but it really does give the shortbread a more intense lemon flavour.

INGREDIENTS

• 110g caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 200g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 100g white rice flour
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

METHOD

1. First, place the sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer and use your fingertips to rub the zest through the sugar until fragrant. Add the butter and vanilla and, using the paddle attachment, beat until light and fluffy.
2. Place the plain flour, baking powder, rice flour and salt in a separate bowl and use a hand whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, stirring gently until the dough just comes together. Tip the soft mixture out onto a sheet of baking paper and use your hands to pat it out slightly to flatten. Place another sheet of baking paper on top and roll the dough out until it is about 8mm thick. Place in the fridge for an hour or so, until it is firm enough to cut.
3. When the shortbread is firm, preheat the oven to 140C fan-forced (160C conventional) and line two baking trays with baking paper.
4. Use a 6cm round cutter to cut out 20 biscuits, re-rolling the dough offcuts as necessary. Place the biscuits on the prepared trays, leaving a little space between them as they will spread while cooking. Sprinkle the biscuits with a little extra caster sugar, then bake for 20-25 minutes or until the shortbread is just starting to colour. Remove the biscuits from the oven and sprinkle with a little more caster sugar. Allow the shortbread to cool completely on the trays before eating, or storing.

Store and share: Store the shortbread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month. The perfect standby sweet treat!

Makes about 20 biscuits

This is an edited extract from Handfuls of Sunshine by Tilly Pamment, photography by Tilly Pamment, Murdoch Books RRP $39.99.