My sister went to Leith’s Cooking School of Food and Wine in London.

After she graduated, one of the best things she produced when she came to visit me was from her purse, wrapped in cello wrap.

“You can get these at any corner shop”, she said.

Oh.  my.  goodness.

It was a slice of Chocolate Caramel Shortbread. A “generous serving”

You know those servings.  Individually packaged, so it must be packaged for one, but when you read the Nutritional value of its contents it will give the nutritional values for many serving sizes.

One serving of a box of macaroni and cheese is a quarter of a box.

An eighth of a pizza

A bottle of Shiraz serves 5 people?

This might have read the nutritional value for a third of a package, which is probably about the size you will cut these in.

I don’t remember what the nutritional values were, because it really doesn’t matter.

Everyone is going to eat three anyway.

Many Millionaire’s recipes call for dark chocolate, or chocolate ganache, but the ones from “the shop” are milk chocolate, like the chocolate bars.

What you will need for Chocolate Caramel Millionaire Shortbreads

Base

1. Line bottom and sides of a 9”x12” (23x30cm) baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Add the butter pieces and process until crumbly.  

If you do not have a food processor, cut the butter in with a pastry cutter, or rub it in with your hands.

If it is fine and loose, that’s ok.  If it is clumped together, that is ok too.  

This is just a shortbread base. 

3. Press it into the baking pan using your hands or a large spoon.

The important thing is to press it firmly enough to not crumble after baking.

Bake 350°F (180°C) for 20 mins.

While the base is baking, prepare the filling

Filling and topping

1. Combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, condensed milk and salt in a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium low heat until well combined.  About 3- 5 minutes.

Add the vanilla after the cooking since it will be heated for so long you will lose much of the flavour.

2. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat.

3. Simmer for 5 minutes from this point, stirring smoothly and constantly. 

It will stick and brown before you know it!  If it happens, it will be sudden.

Then there might be expletives.

If you make this often enough it may stick and brown one of the times, as milk and sugar does when it is overheated.

(shhh- if this happens and you now have little bits of browned milk and sugar, IMMEDIATELY shhhhhh

Immediately strain it through a sieve into another pot. There might still be bits of brown, but there could have been anyway.  No one will notice.)

If you left it because you had to go to the bathroom, I know I’m sure it will be too late to save, and will probably taste burnt, so start again, or call it chocolate burnt caramel shortbread.

4. Remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Caution, the caramel is hot.  Adding the vanilla will make it bubble up.

5. Pour the hot caramel over the hot shortbread.

Don’t worry if your shortbread crust is ready before the caramel, or vice versa.

6. Let cool completely.

The easiest way to melt this chocolate is gently in the microwave.

7. Before microwaving, set aside about ¼ of the chocolate.

8. Microwave at about 20 seconds at a time, allowing the heat to go through it.

9. Stir until completely melted, then stir in the ¼ chocolate that was set aside, using only the heat from the melted chocolate.

This is a cheat chocolate tempering technique to bring the temperature of the chocolate back down.

When you heat things that contain fats, they usually separate in some way, this brings it back together and leaves the chocolate with more of the snap it came with. It also doesn’t leave the whitish bloom that happens after melted chocolate cools.

And the heat agitates to form crystals in the chocolate that bind to other crystals, forming the white bloom.

It is less obvious in the milk chocolate though.

One could also add a tablespoon of coconut oil or butter.  This helps to prevent the bloom.

10. Spread this over the chilled caramel, working quickly when spreading as the chocolate will start to harden.

I keep these in the refrigerator, mostly because I prefer them cold, but you will get neater cuts if it is closer to room temperature.