Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Carina Contini’s Christmas Cracker: Indulge yourself with this delicious chocolate orange shortbread recipe

For a festive treat the whole family can enjoy, look no further than these delicious shortbread bites from one of Scotland’s best-known chefs.

A chocolate orange has become a bit of a traditional Christmas stocking filler over the years, replacing fruit at the bottom of the sack of gifts.

And her love of chocolate orange is what has inspired this recipe from Carina Contini.

Along with her team, the Edinburgh chef, and owner of Contini George Street, Cannonball Restaurant & Bar, and The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant at the Scottish National Gallery, serves shortbread every day at her eateries in the city.

Now, she’s sharing her special recipe in our Christmas Crackers series, having added a little festive flavour.

She said: “Everybody loves baking, everybody loves shortbread, and this is a classic Scottish recipe but with a bit of a Christmas twist. We’ve got orange zest, dark chocolate chips which are just delicious, unsalted butter, plain flour, and cornflour in the shortbread that we make every day at our restaurants but with a little seasonal variation.

“Nothing is better for me at this time of year than chocolate orange, so I’m looking forward to sharing this recipe with you.”

Chocolate Orange Shortbread

Makes approximately 70 shortbread pieces

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

300g plain flour sieved, plus extra for dusting

75g cornflour

Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed orange

100g of chocolate chips

Method
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy.
  3. Slowly fold in the flour and cornflour until well incorporated, then fold in the chocolate and zest.
  4. Transfer to a floured surface and roll out to a thickness of 3-5mm.
  5. Using a scone or biscuit cutter, cut the dough into small rounds.
  6. Place on the baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden.
  7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little caster sugar, then leave to cool on a wire rack.

Don’t miss from this series..