I discovered this wonderful little treat last year when I was in Europe (which you can read about here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). We happened to have some spare time one morning in Shropshire, so we took a quick cab ride over to Attingham Park. On our tour of the house, we stopped by the kitchen where glorious smells met our noses. People were actually baking in the kitchen using historical recipes! We got to try Shrewsbury Cakes straight out of the oven. So delish.
They are sort of like a short bread cookie but with flavors you’ve never imagined together: cinnamon and rose water. Now if I had known what was in them I probably wouldn’t have tried them because rose water is decidedly not my thing! But these are scrumptious!
In the kitchen they had small booklets available for purchase with some of the recipes that were made in the kitchen when it was a working home. If you ever visit, be sure to buy them all! They are a great price, the purchase supports the mansion, and it’s super fun to make the recipes at home! Below is our family adaptation of Shrewsbury Cakes. It’s based off of the recipe provided in the recipe booklet but has been adapted for modern measurements and taste.
Shrewsbury Cakes
Ingredients
- 8 oz Flour
- 2 oz Fine Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 10 tbsp Cold Butter
- 1/2 tsp Rose Water
- 1/2 tsp Water
- 4 tbsp Caster Sugar or other fine sugar For sprinkling on top after baking
Instructions
- Set oven temperature to 338 °F.
- Mix the dry ingredients using a fork or whisk.
- Cut butter into 1tbl chunks. Then, using your hands, rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients, then work in the rose water.
- Knead for 10 minutes until it forms a smooth dough.
- Gather the dough into a ball. I cut the ball it in half to make it a little easier to roll out, but you can also do it all at once if you prefer.
- Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. I found that placing a piece of plastic wrap over the dough makes it much easier to roll. The dough doesn't come apart with plastic wrap over the top. Cut dough into 3 to 4 inch rounds and then place them on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until they are just starting to change color but not browned. These are a pale cake/cookie!
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle caster sugar over the top of the cookies.
- Stack cookies in columns and leave to cool. The column is important because of the amount of butter in the dough!
- Enjoy with a cup of tea or on their own!
