Shortbread Jam Rings (Jammie Dodgers)

200g Butter
75g Icing Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
200g Self Raising Flour
Pinch of salt
Jam

1. Soften the butter in the microwave and then beat together with the icing sugar until it is very soft.  Add the vanilla extract and mix through.
2. Stir in the flour and roll into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes
3. Preheat oven to 180C.
4. Roll out on a floured surface to 3mm thick.  Cut matching 'tops' and 'bottoms'.  On the tops cut a hole in the centre with a small cutter (I have a little heart).
5. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 mins.  Leave them to cool slightly on the baking tray before transferring them to the cooling rack.
6. Melt about four tablespoons of jam in the microwave for about 30seconds. Stir well it should be soft enough to sandwich two layers together.
7. To decorate sprinkle with icing sugar.

Camomile shortbread

These have a really subtle but pleasant flavour.  Highly recommended if in need of chilling out.  I used vanilla sugar instead of sugar and vanilla extract.

1tbsp Dried Camomile Flowers finely chopped
225g butter
140g Sugar
1egg yolk
280g Flour

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

2. Stir in the flowers then beat in the egg yolk.

3. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge

4. Roll out on a floured surface. Cut out using a cookie cutter.

5. Bake for 10mins at 190c

Alternatives:
Try using a tablespoonful of limeflowers or elderflowers

Butter

Ever wonder why butter is yellow in Ireland?
Many years ago I went to San Francisco to see a friend of mine.  One of the things that surprised me was the colour of Butter, it was white -it never occurred to me that butter would come in different shades.  I have since come to understand that the white butter is made from the cream of corn fed cattle.  Due to the climate in Ireland we have plenty of Omega 3 and Beta Carotene rich grass on which the cattle feed. Beta-Carotene is the good stuff that gives carrots, pumpkins and sweet potatoes their colour and is what gives butter its yellowish tinge.

• Butter - Made by churning cream with salt added for flavour. 
• Unsalted Butter - As above but without the salt
• Spreadable Butter - A little oil is added to make it easier to spread
• Ghee / Clarified Butter -This is butter that has been heated and the impurities and salt taken out.  Unlike regular butter it does not burn.  It is often used in Indian cookery.
• Dairy Spreads - Not suitable for baking
• Margarine

Sugar Paste Smoother

It may look like something from a hardware store but this is for smoothing out bumps and lumps in sugarcraft.
This one is from This ones from Kitchen Complements just off Grafton Street in Dublin

How to apply Almond Paste

This is my technique for applying the almond paste.  It may not be elegant but it is quick and effective.  The trick is to get enough icing sugar on the board so that it is not completely stuck (in which case it would tear, but will only move from the board on your encouragement).
You will need:

• A quantity of Almond Paste
• A sugar paste smoother 
• A rolling pin
• A pastry Brush
• Apricot Jam/ Marmalade 
• Icing Sugar (just enough for rolling out the almond paste)
• Wooden chopping board the size of the top of the cake.

Method

1. Dust your work surface with Icing sugar and roll out to 1cm thickness. 
2. Warm 2 tbsp of apricot jam or marmalade in the microwave and brush the top with it.
3. Place the board just above the cake so that it is centered and the top is completely covered and dislodge it from the board with a large knife.  (You shouldn't need to scrape it off it should fall off and directly onto the cake with just a little encouragement)  If that isn't the case then add a little icing to the paste and roll it out again.
4. Trim the top as you would a pie.  Brush the sides with the apricot marmalade.  Roll out the sides in manageable sections.  Apply to the sides of the cake.  Where you have a join in the sides overlap the two pieces and cut straight through the overlapped pieces and discard (or eat!) the trimmings so that you have two perfectly matching pieces.
5. Firmly rub the cake all over with the sugarpaste smoother to make sure that it sticks to the cake and that the Almond paste is one smooth solid coating.