Millionaire's Shortbread and why January isn't all that bad.

I know that to most people, January is a month of misery. It’s cold, the holidays are over and it is time to go on a diet, join the gym and boycott all the cookies and cakes that led to holiday weight-gain. I do not share these feelings- well, maybe the cold part and everyone else dieting gets kind of dull and there is certainly some misery involved when I have to compete with five thousand new gym members for my bike in spin class…but mostly I’m okay with January. It’s my birthday month which, makes it somewhat more bearable. I have an excuse to eat cake, drink champagne and demand presents. Anyway, everybody knows that there’s no better way to fend off the cold than to have an extra layer of fat on the body. Okay, okay – fruits, veggies and exercise are all important and extra fat is bad but not feeling deprived is equally as important for mental well being. I can assure you that having these in the fridge will prevent any temptation you have to deprive yourself this January. Embrace the chocolate, caramel decadence, my friends.

I’ve made these before….many times, in fact and they were one of my first posts on this blog- back when I thought shooting with a crappy old cell phone camera would suffice. Oh, how times have changed. I’ve altered the recipe since its original posting….first to simplify the caramel making procedure and then out of shear luck when I thought I’d made an error in the ratios of the shortbread recipes I discovered a crisper base that holds the caramel and chocolate without going soft. It will go soft eventually if left at room temperature but store them in the fridge and you can buy yourself a whole week of deprivation avoidance. You can thank me, when you find yourself still sane at the end of January.

Before I forget- I must say a huge thank you to the wonderful and talented Stephen Murello who photographed these beauties when we did a bunch of test shots together before Christmas.  He even taught me a few tricks….so who knows perhaps there will be some better pictures around here! Also, please note that the recipe makes a batch double of what you see photographed.

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Millionaire’s Shortbread

for the shortbread
325g/3 sticks butter
175g/6oz sugar
400g/14 oz plain flour
1/2 tsp salt

for the topping
1 can condensed milk
400g dark chocolate
1/2 tsp corn syrup (or golden syrup) optional, but helps prevent the chocolate from cracking and blooming.
1 Tbsp Maldon Sea Salt (or other flaky sea salt)

• The first thing to get on with is making the caramel. To do this place your unopened can of condensed milk into a large pot cover fully in water. Bring up to a boil and then lower to a simmer, topping up with water as necessary so that the can remains covered for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove from the water and allow to cool before opening the can.

• For the shortbread, heat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4 and line a 20 x 30cm brownie pan with parchment (greaseproof) so that the paper comes up over the sides of the pan on two opposing ends.

• Beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until just mixed in. Add the flour and salt and stir until the mixture comes together into a ball. Press evenly into your lined baking tin using something flat (like a cup measure).

• Prick all over with a fork and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the top feels sandy but not too soft and is ever so slightly golden in color. You might want to rotate half way through cooking if you notice it getting darker on one side.

• Remove from the oven and carefully spread over the caramel evenly. Allow to cool.

• Once cool, finely chop the chocolate and melt in a large heat-proof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. You do not need more than an inch of water in the saucepan and make sure that your bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir until almost all of the chocolate has melted, then remove from the heat, stir through the corn syrup (this will make the bars easier to cut through) and continue to stir until the remaining chocolate has melted.

• Pour the chocolate over the caramel layer and spread evenly. Sprinkle lightly with Maldon sea salt and chill in the fridge for at least an hour or until the chocolate has set. Once the chocolate layer has set lift the bars out of the pan using parchment that is coming out over the tops. Cut into 32 pieces and store in an airtight container in the fridge. You will find it easier to cut the squares after the pan has sat at room temperature for 30 minutes or so.