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The recipe provided by Mrs. Maciver offers a charming glimpse into the culinary practices of her time. It begins with basic ingredients: a peck of flour and four pounds of butter, demonstrating an era when baking was both a labor-intensive and celebratory act. The method described is decidedly different from what we recognize today, with the inclusion of yeast, which contributes to a unique texture that modern shortbread often lacks. While Mrs. Maciver's recipe allows for sweetening the shortbread with sugar, the original formulation suggests a less sweet variant, letting the rich flavors of butter shine through.