Sharing the recipes from her childhood

For passionate home cook and baker Silvia Colloca there is nothing more satisfying than baking — combining the simplest of ingredients and seeing them transformed into the most delicious creations to share with others.

In Laugh, Love, Bake! Silvia shares more than 120 of her must-have recipes including breads, tarts, pies and cookies.

This is easy, generous food for every day. Silvia’s baking is simple, classic and enriched with her warmth sense of joy and abundance.

Following is one of her recipes:

EASY LEMON SHORTBREAD COOKIES

When I’m craving a simple yet satisfying cookie, I often turn to my mother’s tried and tested recipe for lemon shortbread. The dough can be made by hand in minutes, but if you are in a hurry, a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment will do the job for you in a matter of seconds. The almond meal adds moistness and longevity to these cookies, and the potato starch helps create an ineffably light texture.

Ingredients

■ 100g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting (optional)

■ 150g unsalted butter, softened

■ 200g (1 1⁄3 cups) selfraising flour

■ 50g (1⁄2 cup) almond meal

■ 1 Tbsp potato starch

■ 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped, or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

■ finely grated zest of 1 large lemon (or 2 small ones)

Method

Cream the icing sugar and butter in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, or use a wooden spoon (the oldfashioned way is more laborious, but that’s how my nonna used to make these!).

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well to incorporate. Roll the dough into a log. Wrap it firmly in plastic film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Take the dough log out of the fridge and cut into 1 cm thick rounds. Place them on the prepared tray, leaving plenty of room for spreading, and bake for 12 — 15 minutes or until cooked through and lightly golden. Cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve as they are or dusted with extra icing sugar.

— Makes 10 — 12