What's better than a crumbly shortbread biscuit? A crumbly shortbread with caramel and chocolate on top! This requires quite a bit of hands on effort with making the caramel as well but it's so worth it (but I won't judge if you want to use shop-bought caramel!). This traybake uses one tin and is a winner for parties, bake sales or an indulgent snack!
This recipe uses milk chocolate on top but feel free to swap to any sort of chocolate. This shortbread can be kept in the fridge or in an airtight container for a week.
Recipe
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves: 16-20 slices
Ingredients:
For the shortbread base:
125g Softened Butter
55g Caster Sugar
180g Plain Flour
For the caramel:
150g Granulated Sugar
68g Butter
90ml Double Cream
For the top:
150g Milk Chocolate (or 200g if you want a hefty slab!)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190°C and grease and line a 20x20cm baking tin with butter and baking parchment.
Make the shortbread: In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and the caster sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift in the plain flour and stir in until fully incorporated, using your hands to bring the dough together into a ball.
Press the dough into the tin making sure it is even all over - using the back of a spoon will help with this. Bake for 17-20 minutes (or longer) until the edges are golden brown. Leave cool in the tin.
While the shortbread is cooling make the caramel. Dice the butter into 6 blocks. In a non-stick saucepan melt the granulated sugar over a low heat, stirring constantly - the sugar will form clumps and eventually melt. Don't turn up the heat as you risk burning the sugar!
Turn up the heat to a medium heat and add the butter into the melted sugar, stirring until the butter is completely melted (1-2 minutes). You may need to whisk the mixture if the butter and sugar become separated.
Once the butter is melted, add the double cream (be careful of splatter from the mixture) and allow to boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the saucepan, stirring occasionally - the caramel will thicken as it cools.
When the caramel is cool, pour it on top of the shortbread biscuit, spreading evenly. Leave to set in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. Chop the chocolate and melt over boiling water or in intervals in the microwave. Spread evenly over the caramel and leave to set in the fridge before slicing into squares.
To get feathering (as in my photos) melt 30g of white chocolate and use a spoon to drip it into parallel lines along the shortbread (do this just after you have spread the milk chocolate on, before it has set). Drag a toothpick or skewer perpendicular to the lines, alternating going up and down through the lines.
Comments