Coffee-Spice Shortbread

Nothing is more gratifying than taking a dish to a potluck and having people rave about it. Or having people confess they don't like certain spices or flavors only to be told those spices/flavors are in the consumed good! It's nice to surprise people and broaden their culinary horizons. The interesting thing about this recipe is the fascinatingly delicious combination of coffee plus cardamom, ginger and cinnamon flavors. I love that ginger appears in 3 different parts of the dessert and that the shortbread itself, perhaps due to the coffee taste, does not have the overwhelmingly buttery taste of plain shortbread. The spice of the crystallized ginger is a nice balance to the sweetness of the white chocolate frosting. I made up my own frosting (and am guessing at the quantities used so I apologize if it's not quite accurate), but the base is from Bon Appetit's Dec 2010 issue.

 

Coffee-Spice Shortbread with Crystallized Ginger
2 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. dark brown sugar, packed
2 Tbs plus 2 tsp ground coffee beans (decaf)
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. chilled unsalted butter (or if you use salted butter, use only half the amount of salt at most)

Frosting:
white chocolate chunks
whipping cream
canola oil
icing sugar
ground cardamom
ground ginger

Topping:
Diced candied ginger

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 
2. Mix all dry ingredients except butter in a food process for 5 seconds.
3. Add cubed butter to food processor and use on/off turns until moist clumps begin to form.
4. Gather dough into a ball and split in half. Press each half into a 9" tart pan with removeable bottom.
5. Bake shortbread 25 minutes. Rotate pans and bake another 20 minutes.
6. Cool shortbread in pans 5 minutes, then remove from pans and cut into 12 wedges each.
 7. To make frosting, place whipping cream (~1/8 of a cup?) and white chocolate chunks (~3/4 - 1 c.) in a saucepan (or double boiler) and warm gently, whisking to combine melted chocolate.
8. When all the chocolate is almost melted, beat in the canola oil (~3-4 Tbs) , icing sugar (~1/4 c. icing sugar), cardamom (1/2 tsp) and ginger (1/2 tsp). Let cool slightly to thicken, then spread on cooled shortbread.
9. Top with candied ginger.