Hogweed and Orange Shortbread

A wild take on a traditional flavour combination, these Orange and Hogweed shortbread biscuits have a wonderful festive flavour which can enjoyed all year round.

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We've started a little early with the festive baking in our house; I have wanted to try this shortbread combination for a while now, and I'm pleased to say that they came out well and are very delicious! You could absolutely make this all year round, but they do have a very festive flavour. They are a wild take on orange and cardamom, using Common Hogweed seeds as a replacement for the Cardamom. They have have a similar flavour, and both work wonderfully well with orange.

If you've come along on a foraging walk with me recently, then chances are you've had the opportunity to taste these wonderful seeds for yourself. Common Hogweed is a native plant, and a member of the Carrot plant family, a notoriously difficult group of plants to differentiate from each other and its usually a good idea to leave them well alone as three of the most dangerous (and deadly) plants in the UK belong to this plant family: Hemlock, Hemlock Waterdrop Wort, and Giant Hogweed.

Common Hogweed sets itself apart from other Carrot plant family members by producing large, deeply lobbed leaves rather than the fern like leaves synonymous with this plant family. This makes it easy to identify but as always, you should make yourself familiar with any potential lookalikes.

This recipe makes use of just the seeds from Common Hogweed, which can be collected from late Summer once they have begun to dry out and turn brown. They are best gathered on a dry day to avoid any excess moisture which could cause mould after they have been stored. I usually gather a few seed heads each Autumn which I find is enough to last me through the year.

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Hogweed and Orange Shortbread

9oz Plain Four

3oz Granulated Sugar

6oz Block Butter

Ground Hogweed Seeds

Zest of 1 Orange

Optional Icing:

Juice of 1 Orange

3oz Icing Sugar

1. Mix the flour and sugar together in a large bowl.

2. Add the ground hogweed seeds and orange zest and stir to evenly distribute through the mixture.

3. Roughly chop the butter and add to the mix. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour mix until it resembles breadcrumbs.

4. Knead it all together to make the biscuit 'dough'.

5. Roll it out onto a floured surface, to about 1cm thick. Cut out your shapes using floured cookie cutters and place them onto a baking sheet.

6. Bake for about 12 minutes at 180 C.

For the icing:

1. While they're cooling you can make the icing by mixing a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice with the icing sugar. You want a fairly thick consistency, but not so thick that it doesn't drizzle.

2. Once the biscuits have completely cooled, drizzle the icing over the biscuits and alow to set before eating.