Recipe: Salted caramel millionaire's shortbread

I WOULDN'T SAY I have a sweet tooth by any stretch of the imagination, but when I do find it hard to resist a good slice of caramel shortbread.  One of the disadvantages of having a life-threating nut allergy is that it's virtually impossible for any cafe/coffee shop/patisserie/bakery to guarantee that their baked goods are 100% nut free. However, this problem has also meant that from a young age I have checked what ingredients are in my food and developed a "make it yourself" attitude.

I am a lover of dark chocolate and always have been. I consider one of the best things about working on any pastry section is the amount of good quality chocolate you get to eat. Even writing this post now takes me back to a dessert I had at the Peat Inn in Fife many years ago - Amedei chocolate delice with raspberries. I knew I had to find that particular brand of chocolate and was horrified to find it cost £4.50 for a measly 50g bar, but when I did, I felt like Charlie Wonka when he picked up his first Wonka bar.

There is a lesson to learn from this and that is I'd rather have one bar of the highest quality chocolate a year than eat a crappy one every day, or even every week.  Chocolate is a treat and should be eaten in moderation.  So much so that I gifted myself only two precious squares of that beautiful treat each day until it was gone three days later. Although next time I ate the lot in one go!

Now, the initial purpose of this blog was to encourage people to cook with ANY quality of ingredient, never mind the Rolls Royce ones. With that in mind, I'm going to slightly contradict what I said above and share one of my ultimate cooking tips with you for making an indulgent chocolate treat that's affordable for everyone. Buy the supermarket's own brand dark chocolate that sits on the very bottom shelf. It costs 30p per bar and I guarantee you nobody can tell the difference between that chocolate and one of the more famous brands that sit higher up on the shelf.

Of course, If anybody does want to make it with the really high-end stuff I am very happy to taste test it for you, just to check that you made it correctly!

To give the classic version of this slice a twist, I've added sea salt to the caramel just to mix it up a bit.  Feel free to omit the salt to make a normal batch.

 You will need:

175g unsalted organic butter, cubed and brought to room temperature

250g plain flour

70g caster sugar

For the caramel

100g unsalted organic butter, cubed and brought to room temperature

100 soft brown sugar

2 x 397g cans condensed milk

1 tsp Maldon sea salt (add more/less to taste)

For the topping

300g supermarket own brand cheap chocolate (Sainsbury's is my personal choice)
50g unsalted organic butter

Method:

1) Heat the oven to 180C.  Butter a brownie tin with a spring bottom or a rectangular tray with a lip lined with greaseproof paper. 

Biscuit base

2) To make the shortbread, place the flour, softened butter and caster sugar into a food processor.  Pulse until it all comes together like a dough.  Press down into your prepared tin and smooth over with a mini palette knife or spoon until compact and even.  Lightly prick with a fork and place in the middle shelf of the oven for around 15 mins until just golden.  Set aside to cool

Caramel layer

3) For the caramel, put the butter, condensed milk, and sugar into a heavy-based pan.  On a medium heat, dissolve the sugar by stirring with a spatula.  Bring to the boil, stirring often, then lower heat to a gentle simmer.  Stir continuously for around 7-8 mins until thickened.  Add the salt and stir to dissolve. Pour over the shortbread mix and spread evenly.  Set aside to set.

4) For the chocolate layer, boil the kettle and half fill a saucepan with water.  Place a glass bowl (that fits) on the saucepan and add the dark chocolate and butter into the bowl and stir until dissolved. Pour over the set caramel and allow to set.  Do NOT put in the fridge as you'll lose the sheen from the chocolate.

HAPPY COOKING!