Calling for just four ingredients — butter, sugar, flour and salt — shortbread is one of the simplest confections you can bake. And it's precisely this minimalism that makes it so singular.

只需四种原料——黄油、糖、面粉和盐——酥饼便是你能烘焙出的最简单的甜点之一。而正是这种极简，使其如此独特。 而正是这种极简，使其如此独特。

There's no egg, no liquid, no chocolate, no spice. There's not even leavening to mitigate its rigorous plainness. Yet good shortbread always manages to charm, secure in the quiet confidence of really excellent butter.

没有鸡蛋，没有液体，没有巧克力，没有香料。 甚至没有任何膨松剂来缓和它那严格的平淡。 然而，好的酥饼总能展现出魅力，依靠的是极其优质黄油所带有的那种安静自信。

Recipes for shortbread have been around since the Middle Ages. According to the lexicographer John Ayto, the term "shortbread" is linked to shortcake, short crust pastry and shortening. In baking, "short" means a dough so richly saturated with fat that the gluten strands never get a chance to link up and toughen. The crumb stays tender and a bit sandy, which gives it a texture distinct from other cookies and cakes.

酥饼的食谱自中世纪就已存在。 据词典编纂者约翰·艾托称，“shortbread”一词与 shortcake（酥饼）、short crust pastry（酥皮面团）和 shortening（起酥油）有关。 在烘焙中，“short”指的是面团中富含大量脂肪，以至于面筋链根本没有机会连接起来变硬。 其饼心保持柔软并带有少许沙粒感，这赋予了它区别于其他饼干和蛋糕的独特质地。

Although shortbread's ingredients are few, its forms are many. There are slender fingers, petite coins, wedge-shaped petticoat tails said to have been a favorite of Mary Queen of Scots. But it's these hearty highlanders that I keep coming back to. Thick rounds rolled in Demerara sugar so that their edges glitter and crunch, they were popularized by Walker's Shortbread in Aberlour, Scotland, which has been making them since 1898. This recipe is a riff on theirs.

虽然酥饼的原料很少，但其形态却很多。 有细长的手指形、小巧的硬币形、据说是苏格兰玛丽女王最爱的楔形衬裙尾形。 但让我不断回味的，却是这些厚实的高地人形。 厚厚的圆片沾上德梅拉拉蔗糖，使其边缘闪闪发亮且酥脆，这种酥饼由苏格兰阿伯劳尔的沃克斯酥饼公司推广开来，该公司自1898年以来一直在制作这种饼干。 这个食谱是仿照他们的作品改编的。

Its ratio hews closely to that of classic shortbread and is easy to keep in your head: one part sugar, two parts butter, three parts flour (plus a pinch of salt). Butter is the most important part, the veritable soul of good shortbread. Use the best high-fat butter you can find, preferably the cultured kind with a faint fresh tang that recalls places with green pastures and a lot of sheep.

它的配比严格遵循经典酥饼的比例，并且很容易记住：一份糖，两份黄油，三份面粉（外加一小撮盐）。 黄油是最重要的部分，是上好酥饼的真正灵魂。 使用你能找到的最好的高脂黄油，最好是经过发酵的那种，带有微微的清新酸味，让人想起有绿色牧场和许多羊的地方。

And don't skimp on the Demerara sugar at the edges. Rolling the shaped log of dough through a copious mound before slicing ensures that every cookie gets an even coating of crystals that caramelize in the oven. Finally, be sure to bake these in a low oven for a long time. Pull the pan when the shortbread is pale gold at the edges, but not brown all over. It's the difference between a texture that melts on the tongue versus shattering like a cracker.

并且不要在边缘的德梅拉拉蔗糖上吝啬。 将整形好的面团条在一个厚厚的糖堆上滚动后再切片，确保每一块饼干都均匀地裹上一层糖晶体，这些糖晶体会在烤箱中焦糖化。 最后，务必在低温烤箱中长时间烘烤这些饼干。 当酥饼边缘变成淡金色，但整体尚未变成褐色时，将烤盘取出。 这就是入口即化的质地与像饼干一样碎裂的质地之间的区别。

Then try your best to let the rounds cool completely before eating one. You might fail at this, and that's fine. Warm shortbread, it turns out, is also very good — especially with a small neat whisky served alongside.

然后，尽力让这些圆片完全冷却后再吃一个。 你可能会失败，但这也没关系。 事实证明，温热的酥饼也非常好吃——尤其是旁边配上一小杯纯饮的威士忌。

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