Billionaire’s Shortbread with salted caramel

It’s that time of year again – EHH’s birthday!  What this means is that not only do I have to come up with some imaginative birthday presents but I have to make cakes for the 70 odd people at his work! I’ve set quite a precedent so I had to make sure that I delivered!

As it was EHH’s birthday, the first choice was his – Billionaire’s shortbread! I haven’t made this in a while and so was very happy to have another go. Last time I made Millionaire's shortbread, it turned out pretty well, but I felt that I could have cooked the caramel longer for a more intense taste: this time I cooked the caramel for nearly 25 minutes, stirring constantly and it made a real difference! The caramel had much more flavour and was deliciously chewy rather than just sticky and smooth.  I also suggested adding some salt to the caramel to add a bit more oomph, so I’ve added this in on this occasion.  Finally, I found some butterscotch pieces in the bottom of a cupboard and so decided to sprinkle these over the top of the chocolate, thus making this Billionaire’s rather than just Millionaire’s shortbread! The butterscotch pieces really added an extra dimension, a real crunch, to this bake and I would highly recommend!

Billionaire’s shortbread with salted caramel

Ingredients

1. 175g butter, at room temperature
2. 75g caster sugar
3. 250g plain flour
4. 60g butterscotch pieces
5. 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
6. 50g white chocolate, broken into pieces

For the caramel

1. 100g butter
2. 50g light brown sugar
3. 50g golden syrup
4. 2 x 397g tins of condensed milk
5. I tsp sea salt flakes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and line a deep 30cm x 20cm baking tin with baking parchment
2. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in flour until evenly mixed, forming a dough.
4. Press the dough into the prepared tin, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.
6. In a heavy based, non-stick pan, melt the butter, light brown sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk over a low heat.
7. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer and then bubble gently for at least 20 minutes, until it turns a dark golden colour.
8. Remove from heat and stir through ½ tsp sea salt flakes.
9. Pour the salted caramel evenly over the shortbread, sprinkle with the remaining ½ tsp salt and then leave to set.
10. Put the dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of just simmering water (don
    
    
    ’t allow the water to touch the bowl).
11. Melt the white chocolate in the same way and set aside.
12. Allow the dark chocolate to cool slightly and then pour it over the caramel and spread evenly.
13. Sprinkle over the butterscotch pieces.
14. Set aside and allow to cool and set.    
15. Drizzle the white chocolate over the top of the dark chocolate and butterscotch pieces.
16. Leave to cool completely and then cut the shortbread into squares.

Millionaire’s Shortbread

One of my cousins was visiting for Easter weekend and so I wanted to prepare a few goodies for when she and her boyfriend arrived.  I skimmed through the copy of Delicious magazine that EHH had bought me recently and came across Harlequin rugby player James Johnston’s recipe for millionaire’s shortbread. Mum used to make this for us when we were kids and it is one of EHH’s favourite treats but I’d never attempted it, so I decided to have a go.

The following is my adaptation of the recipe – as I felt that the instructions in Delicious were rather limited. It is really important to keep stirring the caramel while simmering – it didn’t say this in the magazine and my first attempt at the caramel failed dismally – burning at the bottom and turning into a very strange lumpy texture. Second attempt, I kept stirring throughout and it turned out fine – except I think I took it off the heat slightly early, as it didn’t quite taste cooked through and it was lacking a bit of flavour. So make sure that you wait until the caramel has turned a nice dark golden colour before taking it off the heat.

This recipe provides a very thick caramel layer – you could probably just use one tin of condensed milk (although EHH thinks it is perfect with this very thick layer of caramel!). Next time, I may also add in some sea salt flakes to give the caramel a bit of oomph. The shortbread layer itself is incredibly simple to make but has a fantastic flavour and texture. The original recipe had only a dark chocolate topping – I added the white chocolate swirls – mainly just to look pretty!

Update October 2013 - you may also want to try my Billionaire's shortbread with salted caramel. 

Millionaire’s shortbread

Ingredients

1. 175g butter, at room temperature
2. 75g caster sugar
3. 250g plain flour
4. 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
5. 50g white chocolate, broken into pieces

For the caramel

1. 100g butter
2. 50g light brown sugar
3. 50g golden syrup
4. 2 x 397g tins of condensed milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and line a deep 30cm x 20cm baking tin with baking parchment
2. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in flour until evenly mixed, forming a dough.
4. Press the dough into the prepared tin, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.
6. In a heavy based, non-stick pan, melt the butter, light brown sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk over a low heat, stirring constantly.
7. Continuing to stir constantly, bring to a simmer and then bubble gently for about 20 minutes, until it turns a dark golden colour.
8. Pour the caramel evenly over the shortbread and leave to set.
9. Put the dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of just simmering water (don’t allow the water to touch the bowl). Set aside while you do the same with the white chocolate.
10. Pour the dark chocolate over the caramel and spread evenly.
11. Driizzle the white chocolate over the dark chocolate, and then use a knife to marble the two together.
12. Leave to cool completely and then cut the shortbread into squares.