This recipe was inspired by an incredibly lovely and vigorous Sitka Spruce tree that lives in a woodland area near my neighbourhood. Standing out amongst the other conifers, her bluish-white branches positively sparkle on dreary rainy days. At first, I was sure she was a Blue or White Spruce, but on closer look, I now think she is our native Sitka as her needles are flattened, not 4-sided (more on this later). Spruce is probably best known for its citrusy lime-green spring tips, often made into beer and jellies. While the mature needles are less often used in cooking (more resinous and bitter) this beauty’s needles were just so plump and succulent – I was sure they would be delectable.

Citrusy Spruce Glazed Shortbread

Ingredients

Spruce Glaze

• 3-4 tablespoons of spruce needles (depending how “sprucey” you want it!)
• 1/4 cup of cream
• 1 cup of icing sugar (or more if you like a thicker icing like consistency)

Shortbread

• ½ cup cornstarch (preferably non GMO or organic)
• ½ cup icing sugar
• 1 cup sifted plain flour
• ¾ cup butter

Directions

Spruce Glaze

• Begin by stripping the needles from the branch and placing them in a spice grinder, food processor or coffee grinder. Grind these as fine as you can.
• Then slowly, add in a little icing sugar at a time, about 1 tablespoon, grind it to a fine paste. You should have something that looks like this.

Don’t worry, the stringy fibres are very small and practically dissolve away in finished glaze which is quite smooth.

Place this spruce paste in a bowl, add in some of your cream, then mix in your icing sugar, keep doing this a little at a time until you reached the consistency of glaze/icing you like.

Shortbread

( I love the old classic cornstarch shortbreads, and this one comes right from Grandmas “Canada Cornstarch” box itself)

• Sift cornstarch, flour, icing sugar together. Using either your fingers or two forks, mix in the butter, until a soft dough is formed.
• Shape into 1 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with a lightly floured fork. (Or roll out fairly thick slab of dough and cut into shapes.)
• Bake the cookies at 300 F/ 150 C for 15 – 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Let cool before removing from cookie sheet.
• Glaze your cookies and top with a sprinkle of granulated sugar.

These Chocolate Shortbread cookies were dusted with Juniper Sugar and the amber glaze is a Juniper Berry & Coffee Icing. Recipes for both here

Note: All Conifers are edible excepting the Yew whose pointy needles are thought to be toxic, though some herbalists use them medicinally.  Cedar can be toxic in high doses but a handful of needles are just fine consumed occasionally in a tea. I make an infused Cedar & Rosehip Honey which I love in teas, sparkling water and cocktails.  Ponderosa Pines should be avoided by pregnant or nursing mothers. Also, avoid consuming the needles from the Norfolk Island Pine which is not native to BC and is often sold as mini-Christmas Trees in supermarkets.)

https://gathervictoria.com/2017/12/08/citrusy-spruce-glazed-shortbread-flavour-of-the-forest/