This post will be short and sweet, but not too sweet. It’s about cake; shortcake. Feijoa and Ginger shortcake to be precise.
Take a peek at the shortcake, freshly baked and cut. It’s rough and ready in appearance, exactly like the every day setting of my kitchen. 
Now please help yourself to a piece*….of shortcake
and take a bite 
and let your taste buds linger on the soft buttery crust and luscious feijoa and ginger filling.
Here’s how it’s made:
110gm( 4 oz) butter & 110gm (half cup) sugar & 1 egg & 225gm flour, sifted & 1 tsp of baking powder & 7 to 9 feijoas, peeled and sliced & 9 small pieces of crystallised ginger, chopped & 2 T of sugar.
Soften butter and beat with sugar until creamy. Add egg and beat. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder. Shape into a ball and roll out on baking paper into a large oval shape. Leave the rolled pastry on baking paper and carefully place on baking tray. Slice feijoas reasonably thickly and cover half the pastry with the slices. Scatter the ginger over the fruit slices. Sprinkle with sugar. Carefully pick up ends of baking paper to ease empty half of shortcake over the feijoas. Crimp two edges together. Bake at 170C -180C deg for about 30 minutes until cooked through and nicely browned.
The recipe was dictated to me by a friend. It is one she uses a great deal but I don’t know its origins.
Finally, here is a photo of the feijoas, or pineapple guavas, from a previous post. For those of you who can’t find feijoas in your markets / shops, experiment with another slightly tangy, firm fleshed fruit. 
*Something to chew on:
In my paternal grandmother’s family, if you were offered a ‘piece’, it meant a piece of bread. The piece of bread would be buttered and spread with jam and then sliced off the loaf. I don’t know if the use of the word piece in this way was widespread in early twentieth century New Zealand or was something peculiar to our family. Please note that there is a loaf of bread in the photo collage. You are welcome to a piece 🙂
© silkannthreades
Suddenly I find myself wanting something to chew on, so to speak…………LOL
Hope you found something! By the way, I sent you my email address but I don’t know if you got it.
I have it. Be patient……..
Oh that’s okay. I only wanted to make sure that the email had gone through to you. I have much patience. 🙂
I love it! I’ll try to do.
Please try. It is really just a basic shortcake recipe. I like it best when it is warm from the oven with cream or icecream or full cream yogurt.
Looks delicious! I’m glad I am not reading this first thing in the morning as I am sure it would make me drool and that would not be a pretty sight! Thanks for the pineapple guava picture. I still haven’t found it in the stores but at least I know what to look for. 🙂
Oh no, I wouldn’t want to make you drool!
Looks great and I’m glad it’s not TOO sweet.
The tang of the fruit prevents a sweetness overload.
It looks delicious, you are so good in the kitchen, I could take lessons from you! I guess I soon have to make something nice and show it in my blog….. 🙂
I wonder what you will make? It will come with a hug and a smile, for sure.
Oh that is for sure, my baking has love in it, my cooking doesn’t, that is why it burns so often, hahaha
Hi I’m new to your blog but am now following you to keep up to date with your posts 🙂 thanks for the recipe inspiration! x
Lovely to meet you Cassiefairy. Glad you enjoyed my recipe.
Do you do mail order?!! Just checking…looks too delicious!!!
I wish I could 🙂
Me too!!!
Hooray. Another way to use my feijoas
You too! The annual feijoa glut. If you return to my Pineapple Guava post, you will find in the comments a recipe for guava jam. I tried it, with some trial and error, and it came out like a fruit cheese or paste. Utterly delicious.
Thanks
Oh I can taste your delicious shortcake. My Mum made wonderful feijoa + other shortcakes….often with apple but she did add other spices and fruit with the feijoas at times. She and Dad lived in Hawkes Bay for many years and they had a glut of fruit to enjoy/ deal with.
Mum always said that shortcake mix was tricky to work with and I would have to agree.
Your “piece” is not something I remember from my Kiwi childhood.
That’s good to know. I wondered how apple might work with the feijoa. I do make an apple shortcake from an old Edmonds recipe. That pastry has very little sugar in it because the fruit itself is sweet. The shortcake recipe that I use for the feijoa shortcake is very easy and must be fool proof because it has yet to fail on me 😀 Do you remember what other fruit your mother used in her shortcakes? Yes, the origin of the “piece’ intrigues me.
……and now I am hungry! Looks delish 🙂
I have been feasting on it 🙂 I love it.
Sounds and looks delicious! In England I loved highland shorbreads – wonder if they’re about the same?
Shortbread is delicious. It has a thicker texture than shortcake but both are buttery and soooooo good.
Wow, that looks so delicious. Thank you. I will have a piece 🙂
Have two or three. There’s plenty 🙂
I have nominated you for the Super Sweet Blogging Award.
http://photographyartplus.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/super-sweet-blogging-award/
Congratulations! 🙂
Thank you! That’s SWEET.
Mmm… making me hungry! It doesn’t look too difficult to make, will give it a try!
It’s not difficult and it is a forgiving recipe. It allows for imperfection.