English Toffee Shortbread

The Scottish shortbread favored by Mary, Queen of Scots, saw only minor changes until the twentieth century. One nineteenth-century variation that included ginger was favored by members of the Scottish Parliament, earning the snack the name Parliament Cakes. For this later innovation, a much-celebrated English candy, which even boasts its own holiday, National English Toffee Day, is mixed into the dough.