Homemade Millionaire's (Caramel) Shortbread

The other day I made the BBC Good Food millionaires' shortbreads. The link to the recipe is here, however I thought I'd write my own post about it because I have some top tips to add! :D

Firstly, when you make the shortbread, you will notice that the 13 x 9 inch tray that you have lovingly prepared is about two times too big. If you spread your shortbread that thin you'll have a burnt mess. Get a 6 x 9 inch tray ready instead.

 

One thing I've learnt from experience is to score lines onto the shortbread whilst it is still hot. It will make it A LOT easier to slice up the portions later.

 

The recipe tends to result in a thick layer of caramel. This is quite sickly! I don't think that halving the mix would give quite enough caramel, but if you use condensed milk for anything else consider making 75% of the mix and saving half a can of condensed milk for another day!

The caramel mixture is VERY fickle. When they say stir continuously, they mean CONTINUOUSLY! Even a few seconds flicking the kettle on will mean you have caramelised sugar forming on the bottom of the saucepan. This tastes fine but it will leave little chewy lumps in the caramel.

After you pour the chocolate over the cooled caramel and shortbread, wait for it to almost-but-not-quite set and score lines into the surface to mark out the portions. The chocolate tends to splinter when cut if the lines aren't already marked.

All in all I really like this recipe, although you will definitely need a sweet tooth to enjoy it! It is a very bad-for-you treat to share with friends or bring to a party.