{Let's eat!} Eleanor's Shortbread from "A Beauty so Rare" by Tamera Alexander

Hi y’all! Have you notice in some fiction books you read they have recipes in the back? Since I made this blog, I've always wanted to try out those recipes and today that happens! I have a great recipe to share with y’all! From the AMAZING book “A Beauty so Rare” by Tamera Alexander! (click on the text to see our review!) I made this delicious Shortbread recipe today and Hmm-mmm-mmm! And I have step-by-step picture instructions! It's my first time doing food photography but I like how these turned out! Everything Miss Tamera says will be in bold! And here we go!

Hey friends,

Is there anything that smells as good as homemade shortbread baking in your oven? Oh so scrumptious, and a time-honored recipe. Shortbread is just one of the many recipes included in A Beauty So Rare, the second stand-alone novel in the Belmont Mansion series.

Since Eleanor Braddock (the heroine in A Beauty So Rare) is practical to a fault, she makes her shortbread in a cast-iron skillet, so I did the same. Gives you the best crunchy edges and buttery middles! Wish I could share some with you. But I'll do the next best thing––share the recipe!

Have you ever made shortbread? It's so easy.

Eleanor Braddock's Shortbread

(from "A Beauty So Rare")

3/4 cup butter at room temp (1 1/2 sticks)

1/2 cup powdered sugar*

1/3 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour (sifted)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, then spray a smaller (8-9 inch) cast-iron skillet very lightly with non-stick cooking spray. You don't need that much spray. Trust me, the butter in the recipe will take care of that.

{I don’t have a cast-iron skillet so I used a stone-wear mini-loaf pan.}

Cream the butter until light and fluffy.

Add the powdered sugar,

then the 1/3 tsp of vanilla. {I didn't have a 1/3 of a tsp, so I did a little less than a 1/2 tsp.}

Next, work in the flour. You can either mix the flour in with an electric mixer, or you can get into the 1860s way of doing things and knead the dough on a floured surface until it's nice and smooth.

{I chose the modern option. ;) }

{Remember! It's okay to make a mess...just make sure to get most of it in the bowl. ;) }

Press the dough into the iron skillet (or you can use a pretty shortbread pan too).

{I used a mini-loaf pan}

Bake for 30-35 minutes {mine only took 27 minutes} until golden brown. Cool for about 10-15 minutes then flip the pan over onto a wooden cutting board. Cut the shortbread into pieces while still warm. It "sets up" as it cools. Or serve it warm. Serves 10-12. And it really does. This stuff is rich and delicious. Hope you enjoy. 

Oooooh! The smell! Oooooh! Oh! It really is delicious! I’ll defiantly be making this again!

And just for fun, a bit of history:

*Did you know that in 1851, Oliver Chase (of NECCO Wafer fame) developed a mill for powdering sugar which he used in his candy making process? But if a cook wanted powdered sugar back then, refined loaf sugar was pounded into a fine powder in a mortar and pestle. So much easier today, huh?

For more recipes and to watch the novel trailer

for A Beauty So Rare, visit www.TameraAlexander.com

This week has been amazing! We've met two of our favorite authors, went to a book convention, tried out this delicious recipe & are still celebrating our First birthday! Plus! We're having a giveaway for that last one too! Enter here! Ends the 4/16! 

See y'all soon!

"A Beauty So Rare" by Tamera Alexander

About this book:

  “Eleanor Braddock, a spinster--plain, practical, no stunning Southern beauty--has long since dismissed any hope of marriage. But when a dying soldier whispers his final words, she believes her life can still have meaning and determines to find his widow. But this compassionate deed takes a harsh turn, and Eleanor finds herself dependent upon the richest woman in America and the most despised woman in Nashville--her aunt, Adelicia Acklen, mistress of Belmont Mansion. A clandestine act of kindness leads Eleanor to an unlikely path for her life--building a home for destitute widows and children from the Civil War. And while Eleanor knows her own heart, she also knows her aunt will never approve.
  Gerhard Marcus Gottfried, Archduke of the House of Habsburg and fourth in line to the Austrian throne, arrives in Nashville in search of a life he determines, instead of one determined for him. Collaborating with botanist Luther Burbank, Marcus seeks to combine his own passion for nature with his expertise in architecture. But his plans to incorporate natural beauty into the design of the widow's and children's home run contrary to the wishes of practical, frugal Eleanor, who sees his ideas as costly nonsense.
  Yet as the construction project continues, Marcus and Eleanor find common ground--and a love neither of them expected. But Marcus is not the man Adelicia has chosen for Eleanor to marry, and even if he were, someone who knows Marcus's secrets is about to reveal them all.”


 Series: “Belmont Mansion” book #2. Can be a stand-alone novel. (book #1, “A Lasting Impression” here!)

Spiritual Content- Prayers are said; Eleanor & Marcus have a Faith and trust the Lord in their lives.

Negative Content- In the prologue, Eleanor is a nurse and there’s a bit of blood, but it’s not detailed.

Sexual Content- A couple kisses (one lightly detailed)

-Eleanor Braddock

-Marcus Gottfried

                                         P.O.V. switches between them.
                                                              471 pages (!!)

                                          Set in 1868 (Prologue in 1864)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre & New Teens- 

(only because it’s a large book with a pretty deep story line)

High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Reading the first book in the “Belmont Mansion” series, “A Lasting Impression” got me hooked me Miss Tamera Alexander’s writing- as soon as I finished “A Lasting Impression” I was counting down the days till the next book in the series “A Beauty So Rare”. When that day came and the mailman handed me the package…well this was my reaction:

 

Excited? Who, me? Maybe a LOT! ;)

Miss Tamera Alexander has put “Visit Belmont Mansion” on my Bucket List- and the way she makes you feel like you’re there I could almost check off that I’ve been there! I cannot wait till 2015 when the next book in the “Belmont Mansion” series comes out. :)

And if you’re like me, I love seeing behind the scenes of how the author wrote this book:

And if I didn’t sell you on this book yet (which I totally should have by now) how about watching the Book Trailer?

Annnnd! Miss Tamera & Bethany House Publishing is doing an awesome giveaway! Ends 4/8/14! Click on the picture to go to the link!

See you on Friday for the continuation of our Countdown!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher for this review. (But I was going to buy it with my own money- I was that excited about this book!)