these are one of those pastries that scream make me! and so I have several times. but alas I can not seem to perfect it. I do seem to improve upon the recipe every time I make them though so I feel there is still hope to get that perfect buttery melt in your mouth texture I feel these deserve.
I think my problem is over mixing them. it seems tobe a temperamental type dough. kind of in the same was biscuits can be, though this is in no way a biscuit , its more of a shortbread cookie. but when I fist started making biscuits I struggled with over mixing them at first and then under mixing them till I finally got the right formula and now after so many failed attempts I make a delicious fluffy biscuit without even thinking about it. I just know how, and its not really in the ingredients or the instructions its all in the feel. while recipes are important its amazing to me how much there is to knowing how its supposed look and feel before the cooking process, and the only way to find that is to keep making and keep failing till one gets its right. one day I will get this right.
I by no means feel that these were a failure, in fact they were quite good, definitely the best I have ever made, but still not quite perfection. which can only mean one thing. I need to make them more often. Kartwheels however are not like biscuits, they are not something I can make nearly everyday , they need to be farther spaced out, and right now I am trying not to repeat any of the recipes in the book until I have finished them all. so perfecting must wait.
the cookie part of these are a shortbread type that is then filled with a pie filling. I used a strawberry jelly that I combined with fresh blueberries and cornstarch and lemon for the filling. I really liked the way the filling turned out. but really how can one go wrong with that combination?
this could be made with a variety of different jellies or jams. I used what I had on hand. at some point I think I would try this with a cherry filling. and maybe even an apple filling. obviously I like this recipe. so this is one I will definitely make again.
