Sunday 24 March 2013

Chocolate caramel shortbread

I'm always looking for new things to bake, so after a request for these from a colleague I thought I'd step out of my cookie-shaped comfort zone and try something new. The caramel was labour-intensive but tasted great. I'd use more chocolate next time, but as you know I am a chocoholic, so you might be happy with just using a 200g bar. I'll try a salted caramel shortbread next time too, these need a bit of a kick-although you could sprinkle flakes of sea salt over the top.
      Ingredients:
      For the shortbread:
      340g plain flour
      120g caster sugar
      240g butter
      For the caramel:
      1 (397g) tin condensed milk
      2 tablespoons golden syrup
      60g caster sugar
      120g butter
      For chocolate topping:
      1 (200g) bar milk chocolate, melted
      Method:
      Preheat oven to 170 degrees C or gas mark 4. Lightly grease or line a 30cm square cake tin.
      For the shortbread: 
      1. Sieve the flour and sugar into a large bowl. 
      2. Rub the butter into the mixture until it comes together in dough. 
      3. Press it into the bottom of the cake tin, spread evenly and prick with a fork all over. 
      4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
      For the caramel: 
      1. Pour the condensed milk, syrup, sugar and butter into a saucepan. 
      2. Cook over a low heat, stirring all the time. This takes a while but has to be done carefully otherwise it will stick to the pan and burn. 
      3. When the mixture turns a deep caramel colour, remove it from the heat and pour it over the shortbread.
      4. Allow it to cool for around 30 minutes
      For the topping:
      1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 10 seconds to ensure it doesn't burn.
      2, Pour the chocolate over the caramel, smoothing out with a knife. 
      3. Transfer to the fridge to set  for another 30 minutes-1 hour  before slicing into squares.

      Note: These will keep for around 5 days if stored in an airtight tin or the fridge, or you could just eat them all at once. 

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