Back to baking with this third excerpt (after Aubergine Farcie) from The Picnic Cookbook (Kyle Books, June 2013) by Annie Bell
Salt Caramel Millionaire's Shortbread
I can think of several children, forced to name their all-time
favourite biscuit or cake, who would without hesitation say
‘millionaire’s shortbread’. Although not just any old
millionaire’s, it’s got to be homemade.
The
offer here has the promise of a good chocolate along with a caramel
with a hint of salt. The white chocolate marbling is pretty, though
not essential.
Makes
1 x 23cm square tin
Shortbread:
225g
unsalted butter, chilled and diced
100g
golden caster sugar
200g
plain flour
115g
ground almonds
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
Caramel
100g
unsalted butter
70g
golden caster sugar
1
tablespoon golden syrup
275g
dulce de leche (or Nestlé’s Caramel Carnation)
1/3 level
teaspoon fine sea salt
Top
200g
dark chocolate (approx. 50 per cent cocoa solids), broken into pieces
25g
white chocolate chips (optional)
Place
all the ingredients for the shortbread in a food-processor and whizz
to a dough. Butter a 27cm x18cm or 23cm square brownie tin and press
the shortbread into the base, you can lay a sheet of clingfilm over
the top to help smooth it. Prick with a fork, loosely cover with
clingfilm and chill for at least 1
hour.
Preheat
the oven to 140°C fan/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake the shortbread
straight from the fridge for 45 minutes until very lightly coloured,
then leave it to cool.
Place
all the ingredients for the caramel in a small non-stick saucepan and
bring to the boil, stirring until melted and amalgamated. Simmer very
gently for 8–9 minutes, stirring frequently, then pour over the
shortbread base and leave to cool for at least an hour until set,
overnight is even better.
Melt
the dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pan with a little simmering
water in it, and smooth in a thin layer over the top of the caramel.
If you want to marble the surface, then melt the white chocolate in
the same way, and drop 1/4 teaspoons on top of the dark, and marble
it by swirling with a cocktail stick or the top of a metal skewer.
You have to work quite quickly here – if, for any reason, the dark
chocolate starts to set, then you can pop it momentarily into a low
oven until it softens again.
Set
aside in a cool place until set but still soft, then cut into squares
(a small serrated knife is best for this) and leave to set completely
in a cool place, then chill. This sweet offering will keep well in a
covered container for several days somewhere cool.
Kit: Sharp knife
(* Recipe excerpted from 'The Picnic Cookbook' by Annie Bell-Kyle Book, US Edition, June 2013, all rights reserved, photography by Jonathan Bell)