Millionaires Shortbread

These are a real nostalgic treat for me. I’ve eaten them growing up at birthday parties, alongside a warming coffee as an adult and now I’m showing you how to make them at home! As with most bakes, homemade just tastes better. Using good quality ingredients, especially chocolate, make a world of difference here. Although these do have quite a few components to build up the layers, they’re all quite easy recipes to follow. So knock up a batch for your next coffee date and enjoy!

Ingredients - makes 16

Shortbread base:
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
75g caster sugar
225g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Caramel layer:
110g unsalted butter
190g soft light brown sugar
60g golden syrup
1/4 tsp of salt
397g condensed milk (1 tin)

Chocolate layer:
100g good-quality milk chocolate
100g good-quality dark chocolate
50g good-quality white chocolate
Flaky salt

Method

Grease and line a 9inch square baking tin with butter and baking paper. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.

For the shortbread; start by lightly creaming the butter, sugar and vanilla together until well combined. You don’t want to cream it to light and fluffy, just well mixed together. Add in the flour and salt. Mix until it forms a dough. Press the shortbread into the tin in one even layer with your fingers. Once smooth and well compacted, bake for 10-15 minutes until just turning slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and leave to cool while you make the caramel.

Place all the ingredients for the caramel into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Once warm, stir continuously until it comes to the boil. Cook until it reaches 106°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, it should take approximately 3-5 minutes from boiling. It will begin to look thick and smell like caramelised milk. Pour the caramel into the tin and leave to set at room temperature until its a little soft to the touch (at least 1 hour.)

Once the caramel layer has set, melt the milk and dark chocolate together. Melt the white chocolate separately and place into a small piping bag. Working fairly quickly, pour the milk/dark chocolate over the caramel and spread into an even layer. Pipe twelve thin lines of white chocolate across the top horizontally with even spacing in between. Going perpendicular to the piped lines; take a sharp knife, place the tip into the chocolate at the bottom end of the tin and pull it upward creating a feathering effect. Move the knife a cm to the side and pull the knife downward from the top of the tin so it alternates with your last pull. Continue this in alternating strokes until you’ve created the feather effect over the entire chocolate layer. Sprinkle with flaky salt and leave to set in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours.

Once set, remove from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 20 minutes to soften slightly. Take a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry (this will ensure a lovely clean cut), and cut into four even strips. Cut each strip into four squares so you have 16 shortbread. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. These also freeze very well!