Nectarine and Cranberry Shortcake

, from Issue #27. December, 2015
Photography by Vanessa Wu.
Nectarine and Cranberry Shortcake

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

Shortcake
1 1⁄2 cups self-raising flour
pinch of salt
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
125 grams butter, diced
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Topping
3 tablespoons apricot jam
3-4 ripe nectarines
1 cup frozen cranberries, not thawed
4 tablespoons caster sugar

To serve
3 tablespoons apricot jam, warmed
thick plain yoghurt

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Grease an 18 x 28 cm Swiss roll tin or baking dish and line with baking paper.

Put the flour, salt, lemon zest, nutmeg, butter and caster sugar in a food processor and blend to coarse crumbs.

Add the egg and pulse until all the dough is damp and just starts to come together but is still crumbly. Don’t process into a tight ball. Tip into the tin and use your fingertips to push into an even layer over the base. Using the back of a spoon, spread the jam over the top. This stops the juice from the fruit leaking into the base.

Slice the nectarines into 1 cm wedges and arrange neatly over the dough. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Toss the frozen cranberries with the remaining sugar and scatter over the top.

Bake for about 40 minutes until the fruit is golden and the base is cooked through. Leave for 10 minutes then gently brush the fruit with the warm jam to give a glossy sheen.
Serve warm or at room temperature with thick yoghurt.