Friday 6 November 2009

Millionaire’s Shortbread

I mentioned last time how I had my eye on this dessert. Not strictly true – the ingredients were already in the cupboard. It was only a matter of time…
DSCF5291
Some things, I’ll only bake once in a very long while. Sometimes, something is so sinfully delicious it is simply too bad for the hips and too good for the lips to be made repeatedly. Such as in the case of this Millionaire Shortbread.
DSCF5305 The name for this shortbread is totally right: forget fit for a king, fit for a millionaire is the best. Millionaires shortbread is basically a layer of shortbread (shocker!) topped with a thick caramel layer, all finished with a chocolate topping. Mmm!
DSCF5296
The recipe is not too hard to make, but there are a few point it could go wrong. You need to be careful that you don’t overcook the caramel or it will get either too hard to cut (and you’ll lose the wonderful squidgyness) or it will come out with a slightly burnt flavour, no good to anyone. You can make this with a cheesecake-style base of crushed biscuits, but then I feel its not millionaire’s shortbread is it? Overall, this shortbread was oh-so good. And it disappears far too quickly for our liking – the reason its only made rarely. My minor grumbles would be in trying to stretch out the layers to fill the tin, they layers turned out pretty thin (particularly the chocolate) and you lose something about the decadence of the thing! I’d prefer to have thicker layers and smaller richer pieces at a go!
DSCF5297
Millionaires Shortbread
Shortbread: 9oz plain flour
6oz butter
3oz sugar
Cut the butter into the flour and sugar, either quickly in a food processor or by hand. Rub the butter in until it resembles breadcrumbs, and then begin to pull and “squish” the dough together. Press into a tin, and bake for around 15minutes at 150’C. Leave to cool.
Caramel Layer: 150g butter
150g sugar
4tbsp golden syrup
307g tin of condensed milk
Melt all the ingredients together in a large saucepan. Stir absolutely constantly – making sure the mixture doesn’t catch on the sides or base of the pan. Its all about the colour change – from pale and white to a deep golden (takes about fifteen minutes). However stop as soon as it over thickens or lots of black bits appear. Pour onto the cooled shortbread and let set softly.
Chocolate Layer: 200g chocolate
Gently melt chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, or in the microwave. When completely melted – spread onto caramel. Leave to cool and set before slicing into tall soft slices!

13 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

That is a delicious treat! Your Millionaire's Shortbread looks so tempting...

Cheers,

Rosa

Steph said...

mmm.. the caramel layer is so nice and thick!

verity said...

That looks yummy Lucy, I've made it before, but definitely one to only make occasionally! You could use a smaller tin to make the slices a bit thicker?

Hannah said...

This looks good! I think I am going to try and make some! I just started blogging and this would be awesome to add to my blog!

Anonymous said...

I always wonder why it's called millianair shortbread. :) Yours look awesome!

apparentlyjessy said...

Another great dessert Lucy! I have always been fond of chocolate and caramel together (who isn't) this wouldn't last long in my household either!

Ash said...

I've been wanting to make this forever... I was actually a little scared only because I knew it would taste... well too good, and I wouldn't want to share!
I think I might have to brave it out, cause it does look super delicious!

Dewi said...

Sounds like a wonderful treat.

Rhiannon Bosse said...

Great pictures and recipe as usual Lucy!! Shortbread reminds me so much of Christmas and gets me so excited for the holidays :)

Lynne Daley said...

What a deliciously decadent dessert! I could eat my weight in these. I've never seen a recipe for this. Thanks.

Lovlie said...

Oh Wow! This looks so gooey and delicious! Although I'm not a great fan of caramel/chocolate combo, this looks very tempting!

Megan Gordon said...

Oh boy...these look dangerous!
I love pretty much anything with sweetened condensed milk--these are bookmarked. Lovely photos, too!

kimberleyblue said...

Mmm...I've always wanted to try this dessert. Sounds so perfectly sweet! Now I want to even more.