Monday, 16 September 2013

Salted Caramel Millionaire Shortbread

Getting a bit chilly isn’t it? Is there a herd of food bloggers out there who totally love the arrival of cool air? The sooner the cringe worthy gowns and Primarni pyjamas come out the better. I can already smell the tea mug on bed linen Instagrams.

What square of confectionary, weighing in at around 400 calories (don’t be afraid) would best accompany such Instagrams? Salted caramel Millionaires Shortbread. Noticeably.

My first go at this sinful combination was part disaster part success. I used shortbread blitzed in the food processor mixed in with melted butter for the base. On top of that lay burnt caramel, if you’re going to embark on what is essentially a recipe for shortbread on crack, use a heavy bottomed saucepan unless you fancy passing piping hot caramel through a stubborn sieve. Of course, I was extra precarious with the second batch of caramel and OF COURSE, all that gorgeously burnt and salted caramel flavour was nowhere to be seen. Lesson learnt: never compromise taste over appearance.

The melted butter tried desperately to give the first batch a stable structure, but all that surfaced was a crumbly mess. Its better to bite the bullet and go homemade for the base, unless you manage to find a slab of shortbread that somehow sits perfectly into your tray, then we’re all laughing.
Lastly, lets talk salt. If you wanna look in with the kids these days, all you have to do is throw the word ‘salted’ in front of your recipe (not ashamed to say I’m guilty of it, kinda, sorta, am…). But we all know that salted caramel is the only pairing that actually works, so all we’ve done here is squash it between chocolate and shortbread. 

Could you imagine if I generously salted those too, how cool would that look/not taste?
Salted Caramel Millionaire Shortbread

Adapted from 3 separate recipes in Leiths Baking Bible 


Ingredients

Shortbread Base
230g butter, softened
110g caster sugar
285g plain flour
55g cornflour
Filling
115g butter
120g light brown sugar
4 tbsp golden (or corn) syrup
2 x 397g condensed milk
1 tsp + 1 tbsp sea salt
Topping
300g milk chocolate, 35% minimum
50g white chocolate chips

Make the shortbread. Heat oven to 170 C and line 17cm rectangular baking tray with baking parchment. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Sift in flour and cornflour. Beat mixture to form smooth paste. Dump on tray and use the back of a spoon to evenly spread it out.  Chill for 20 minutes. Bake for 20 minutes until solid and lightly browned. Let cool. Cover and set aside.

Make filling. Add everything and 1 teaspoon of salt into a heavy bottomed\large saucepan. Cook on low until the butter and sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up to medium and stir constantly until the caramel browns, let the mixture boil rapidly for 5 minutes. If the mixture burns, pass through a sieve to remove dark bits. Pour directly over the cooled shortbread, use a cranked spatula to get an even coating. Sprinkle generously with the other teaspoon of sea salt. Leave to set in the fridge for 1 hour.

Make topping. Melt milk chocolate over banmerie. While thats melting, melt white chocolate in the microwave in 15 second bursts. Fit piping bag with tiny round nozzle and spoon white chocolate inside. Pour milk chocolate over caramel and smooth over with spatula. Pipe diagonal straight lines half a centrimetre apart over the milk chocolate. Score the lines in a horizontal direction with a toothpick to create pattern. Leave to set in the fridge for 30 minutes. The shortbreads last for 5 days!
This weekend Fair Cake exhibited the Cake & Bake Show, so this whole week has been such a gnarly experience albeit slightly exhausting. Who knew so much went into exhibiting?  Did you visit the Cake + Bake? Did you visit our stand? How awful was that 'cake catwalk' ? 
Love Em xx

26 comments:

  1. These look amazing! I made millionaire's shortbread last week and I'm not ashamed to admit I spent the best part of the week eating it. I need to have another go now and do it with salted caramel.

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  2. Can't wait to try this!! Im still salivating (too much info?) over the last time I made one of your heavenly treats (the carrot cake!!!).

    Gemma
    fadedwindmills.blogspot.co.uk

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  3. Im pretty sure we managed to bake millionaire shortbread on exactly the same day Sophie, clearly it takes me ten billion years to post anything! I loved the combination of flavours in yours, I was kicking myself a little bit after I saw yours, why didnt I add coconut woman!!!

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  4. You made the carrot cake?! Which one! I am a bit of a carrot cake fiend...as you can probably tell :)
    And deffo not too much info, I tell people I'm salivating online all the time ;)

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  5. These look delicious! I spend a lot of time eating millionaire shortbread and not enough time making it myself - I reckon it's time to change that! :)

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  6. The Baking Explorer (Kat)16 September 2013 21:17

    This looks so delicious, and I've recently become a salted caramel convert. The chocolate design on top looks really good!

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  7. Thank you Kat, the design is disgustingly simple to do as well yet so pretty/elegant for a shortbread. x

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  8. What gorgeous looking little treats. Totally agree, salted caramel is the best of all salty sweet things...salted chocolate is so hard to get right!

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  9. Millionaire's Shortbread is one of my all-time favorite desserts! Your caramel layer looks so thick and luscious!

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  10. These look amazing!!

    themacaronaddict.blogspot.co.uk

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  11. The caramel was deffo the superior layer ( if you can even have such a thing! ) It kind of oozed out of the sides with every bite. ahmaaaazing !

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  12. Thank you!
    And you're right it is, having said that, have you tried Green & Blacks sea salt bar?

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  13. Thank you for answering so quickly....I am making these today. I checked my icing sugar and it does say corn starch in the ingredient list, which is the same as corn flour I think. I live in Canada so maybe the States has different icing sugar, I know they call it something different too but my mind is blank right now. Your cookies look lovely btw! Thanks again.:)

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  14. Just pulled them out of the oven, they look just like yours! Can't wait to try them. Very sticky dough to get into icing bag I was covered in it, lol!

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  15. Sophie LovesFood18 September 2013 16:57

    Oh wow! This looks amazing.
    And yes, the cake cat walk was poor!

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  16. It tastes good enough to be covered in! How did they turn out? Have you dipped them in anything?

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  17. wow these are seriously stunning LOVE the feathering on top! everything looks perfectly portioned !
    http://mycupcakehabit.blogspot.co.uk/

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  18. i really enjoy your blog this recipe looks delicious and yummy taste can i useing this recipe ref for my site @ www.sindhedu.com

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  19. Hi Lukman,
    Of course you can!
    Please could you credit me somewhere if you do, it would much appreciated :)
    Emine

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  20. 'Extra Spicy Carrot and Walnut Birthday Cake'-- This bad boy!
    I've also tried a few carrot cake recipes now, this is the most recent one I tried and man oh man it went down a treat! I think I might have to try your Zucchini and Lime number...

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  21. Did you use the cream cheese recipe too? The cream cheese I used for the zucchini number was a bit too creamy I think, I really regret not using the frosting from the carrot cake! I'm glad you liked it, I love to hear when people use these recipes, it makes me so happpppzzzzzzz

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  22. I really need to stop visiting your blog at unholy middle of the night times Em as I just want to stuff my face with gloriously sweet food!! Love the feathered top and the even base to caramel ratio. I always feel cheated if the base is thicker than the caramel ('cause we know millionaire's shortbread is all about the caramel)

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  23. why not book marking your site now for update...can we know each other i mean just about work nothing to other related topic :D and yes why not all credit goes to you.... and i do not believe copy paste work :)

    www.sindhedu.com

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  24. No please do keep visiting at crazy hours! It gives me something hilarious to wake up to in the morning! I know what you mean, I had one at starbucks the other day, the caramel was LACKING in comparison to shortbread. Costa's on the other hand... well what can I saaaaaay mmmmhm x

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  25. Haha! Ah so a combination for the zucchini one? I will make note of that. Clever idea to mix and match your recipes. Im always a little nervous to stray too far from the written instructions! I need to build up some confidence with baking i think. Great excuse to get my pinny on more often ;) Can't wait to see whats up next on your blog...

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