Recipe: Salted Caramel Millionaires Shortbread

Also known as caramel shortbread or “a delicious slice of chocolatey caramely biscuity heaven”, this teatime treat has always been a solid favourite in my family, and this luxury version I baked for my dad for Father’s Day was definitely no exception! Leave it in the fridge uncovered and it will be gone before you know it!
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Ingredients 
Shortbread
  • 185g (6½oz) butter
  • 75g (3oz) caster sugar
  • 250g (9oz) plain flour
  • 1 bag milk chocolate chips (I bought chocolate buttons and bashed them up with a rolling pin – much cheaper and they taste better than cooking chocolate!)
Caramel
  • 185g (6½oz) butter
  • 75g (3oz) caster sugar
  • 3tbsp golden syrup
  • 300g (10oz) sweetened condensed milk
  • 1tsp posh seasalt
Topping
  • 200g Green and Black’s 70% Dark Chocolate
  • 100g Green and Black’s White Chocolate

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Method
  1. Line a medium sized rectangular or circular cake tin with nonstick baking paper. Heat the oven to gas 4, 180˚C, fan 160˚C.
  2. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until light and creamy.
  3. Beat in the flour until it forms a soft dough.
  4. Add in your chocolate chips and mix through the dough.
  5. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared tin using your fingers or the back of a spoon.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until pale golden and then turf it out onto a cooling rack (it will only harden up a bit once it’s cool).
  7. Pour the butter, sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk into a large pan over a medium heat.
  8. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved then turn up the heat and boil for 5-7 minutes, stirring all the time to ensure the mixture doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan (trust me, you’ll want to keep sitrring it, it catches so easily! I used a whisk as it was a bit easier than a spoon to get to all the edges)
  9. The mixture is ready when it turns a deep golden colour and has thickened to a soft fudge consistency. Once it’s cooled for a few minutes, stir in your salt, then pour the caramel over the shortbread and leave to set for an hour or so. Do not put the hot mixture in the fridge until cool, it will either crack your glass shelves or heat up the rest of your fridge, it’s best to leave it on the side away from hungry pets and family members until its nearly cold and then refridgerate it. It will need to be completely cold before you put the chocolate on top!
  10. Crack the chocolate in two separate glass bowls and balance them over a pans of simmering but not boiling water. Make sure the water isn’t touching the bowls, but the steam will do it’s job in heating it up – stirring the chocolate occasionally helps too!
  11. Pour the dark melted chocolate over the caramel and spread to the edges.
  12. With a piping bag (or sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in once corner, starting from the middle, pipe concentric circles of melted while chocolate on top of the dark chocolate. You can also do a random swirly pattern if you’d prefer.
  13. Using a kebab stick or cocktail stick, starting from the centre of the circle, draw lines through the chocolate to the edge. Repeat the whole way around.
  14. Leave in the fridge to set, then cut into triangles (or squares if you’re in a square tin). Keep in a tin or on a plate in the fridge for up to 1 week (though I’ll be amazed if it lasts that long!).