Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Start by whisking together the eggs and almond essence in a large bowl. Keep ⅔ of the egg mix in the large bowl, and pour ⅓ into a smaller bowl - keep this aside.

To the large bowl with egg add the flour, sugar, butter, vanilla paste, and salt. Give this a good mix until it is all combined and forms a batter. It may be a bit wet and sticky, but that is ok.

Pour the batter into a non-stick rectangular cake tin, or a greased and lined regular cake tin.

Place and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Then use the remaining ⅓ egg mix as an egg wash. Poke a few holes in the cake as well, to ensure it cooks all the way through.

Bake for a further 15 minutes.

Let the shortbread cake cool, then cut into squares. Enjoy!