Shortbread Table Decoration - 100% Vegan

Of course, you probably know me very well for invading Vocal with my film studies stuff and articles entitled ‘a filmmaker’s guide’. I have often explained that I love to bake as well. Since I was young, I have loved the idea, the creativity and the relaxation of baking different things. I love to make macarons, layer cakes and gingerbread in particular and the activity of it really gets me away from my laptop (where I’m sure you know that I spend most of my life). So, I hope you enjoy me talking about what I bake and why I bake it complete with pictures (if not very good) of me actually baking, my baked goods in the process of being created and when they’re finished. I’m really happy to share this with you. And if you like, you can show me your baking (yes, I spend a lot of time writing, but I also spend a lot of time reading other people’s articles!), I would love to see it. Since I was in school, I was always interested in creating things, whether that be pieces of writing, welding things to make small statues or baking foods and making sweets (candy, if you’re American). I hope you enjoy looking at some of the stuff that has honestly kept me sane, because I seem to be going slightly mad.

Shortbread Table Decoration

Make this recipe vegan by:

I love making shortbread not only because it is easy to bake and easy to flavour, but also because when you cut it into shapes it holds shape perfectly. This means that you can make some wonderful table decorations out of them. Now, if you like, you can make yourself a three dimensional one, but I prefer to make a centrepiece in the style of a laying scenery because our dining table is a rectangle and that means everyone can reach a piece from where they're sitting.

As you probably know from one of my last posts, I'm working with edible plating at the moment and shortbread cooked slightly longer means that you can have all the edible plating you want. I would also suggest making the plating a slightly stronger flavour that the scenery atop it because then, you'll get an excellent balance of taste.

Let's have a look at how this is done in stages.

• Shortbread Leaves
• Shortbread Plating in the Shape of a Pond
• Shortbread Rocks
• Marzipan Flowers
• Fondant Icing Side Greenery

For the Shortbread

• 300g Chilled Plant-Based Butter
• 100g Caster Coconut Sugar
• 360g Plain Flour
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Powdered Ginger
• Sea Blue Food Colouring
• Green Food Colouring
• Brown Food Colouring

1. Preheat your over to 200C
2. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and spray oil on to a circular baking tray - a cake tin that is a circle will also do
3. Cream together the butter and sugar, adding in the flour afterwards to create a firm dough
4. Split the mixture into two types and into one mix the ginger and in the other mix the vanilla
5. Into the ginger dough, mix the blue food colouring and roll out on to the circular baking tray then set aside
6. Split the mixture of the vanilla into two equal parts and mix one with the green food colouring and the other with the brown colouring.
7. Make leaf shapes out of the green and rocks from the brown
8. Place the two shapes on the baking trays - or just on one if it will fit
9. Put the trays in the oven and cook for around 17 minutes
10. Set to cool for half an hour before assembly begins

For the Marzipan and Fondant

Get a piece of fondant icing and either get green or use food colouring to turn it green. Roll it out and attach it to the end of the pond you have created using some edible glue.

Atop of the fondant, place the rocks you have made and atop of the pond, place on the leaves you have made.

Take the marzipan and colour it some brighter colours of your choice - I used pink and yellow. Cut them into flowers and scatter around you design.

Put some of them over the rocks and then cut some optional leaves from marzipan, colouring them green and placing them at the end between the rock area and the pond area to cover up where it has been attached.

Place your piece in the centre of the table at dessert time and let people dig in!