Food Porn: Salted Caramel Millionaire's Shortbread

I have this terrible habit of cooking food that I don't actually like eating myself. For example I once made T some peanut butter cookies, when I'm allergic to peanuts. I could feel the peanut butter on my hands despite having washed them about 42 times; very Lady Macbeth. 


That probably doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement but y'see I don't have much of a sweet tooth. Hardly any in fact, I'd much rather have some broccoli. 


But I did eat one of these salted caramel millionaire's shortbread (I know the name is a mouthful, but then so is the cake) and it was actually utterly moorish. The addition of the sea salt in the caramel takes the edge off that cloying sweetness and gives the flavour a bit more of an oomph. 


Ingredients for one batch made in a 20cm square tin: 


375g of unsalted butter
225g of plain flour (for gluten free substitute with GF plain flour)
75g of golden caster sugar
1 x 397g can of condensed milk
4 tbsps of golden syrup
1 tsp of sea salt
350g of good quality milk chocolate
1tsp of vanilla extract


First preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan for the shortbread. Line the 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper, leaving around 1cm of paper sticking up around the edge to make it easy to lift out the cake afterwards. 


In a food processor pulse together the flour, sugar, vanilla, and 175g of the butter, cut up into cubes, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and the butter is mixed fully with the flour. Tip the crumbs into the tin and press down firmly and evenly to compact them into a flat dough, making sure to get right into the corners. Prick all over with a fork and place in the oven for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes turn the oven down to 150c/130c fan and bake for a further 35 minutes. When done remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. 


For the caramel melt together the remaining 200g of butter, condensed milk, golden syrup, and sea salt in a medium saucepan. Then bring to the boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the caramel doesn't burn. Turn the heat off and stir vigorously for a couple of minutes to make sure the caramel is smooth, then pour over the cooled shortbread. Place in the fridge to cool and so that the caramel sets firmly, this should take about an hour. 


Break the chocolate into chunks and melt in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate over the caramel and return to the fridge for the chocolate to cool and set firm; this will take at least 2 hours or ideally overnight. 


When the shortbread is all set cut into slices with a heavy sharp knife, heated slightly in a bowl of hot water. This will prevent the chocolate from cracking.