Hubby requested that I tried making this when he glimpsed through one of my baking cookbooks. Hence, this is my 1st attempt of making:
MILLIONAIRE'S SHORTBREAD.
A brief info in case you're wondering what it is:
"Caramel shortbread, also known as Caramel Shortcake, Caramel slice, Millionaires shortbread, Millionaires slice, Wellington Slice, Wellington Squares and Caramel Squares is a confectionery item believed to be of Scottish origin because of the use of shortbread. It traditionally consists of three layers; a shortbread biscuit base, a caramel filling and a milk chocolate topping."
This recipe was adapted from "Home Baking Cookbook
" book. FYI, I didn't follow the exact recipe so am not sure whether mine turns out nice or not compared to the actual one that follows the exact recipe. Also, this book did not show the step by step pictures, so I pretty much have to rely on my just-do-it-don't think or doubt-so-much sense...
PREPARATION TIME: DIDN'T TAKE NOTE COS' IT FELT LIKE FOREVER...
* About 10 minutes to mix & knead dough
* 20 minutes for baking process
* About 10-15 minutes to melt the toppings
Ingredients / Tool Required:
* A bowl to mix ingredients in
* Kitchen scale
* A 9-inch square can tin
* 115g butter, diced and chilled plus extra for greasing
* 225g plain flour (I used corn flour cos that's what I have)
* 60g soft light brown sugar, sifted (which I totally forgot to do, yikes!)
Topping:
* 4tbsp butter (about 60g)
* 60g soft light brown sugar
* 500ml canned condensed milk (I used 400ml of condensed sweet creamer cos that's what we get here and MIL nagging it's too much)
* 150g milk chocolate (I didn't use this at all)
What to Do?
* Preheat oven to 190℃ and lightly grease a 9-inch square can tin.
* Sift the flour into the bowl, add the butter and rub in until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
* Add the sugar and work the mixture to form a firm dough (No matter how I try to form the dough, the mixture keeps crumbling!)
* Lightly press the dough into the base of the cake tin and prick all over with a fork. (Also had some problems here as the crumbs stuck onto the fork)
BAKING PROCESS
* Pre-heat oven at 190℃ for about 5 minutes
* Set oven to 180℃ and bake for 20 minutes until firm and lightly golden. Leave to cool in the tin.
TO MAKE THE TOPPING
* Put butter, sugar and condensed milk in a non-stick saucepan (I use a small pot) over a low heat and cook, stirring constantly (I used a pair of wooden chopsticks to stir) until the mixture comes to the boil.
* Reduce heat and cook for 4-5 minutes (I think I took about 10 minutes), stirring continuously until the caramel is pale golden and thick and coming away from the side of the saucepan.
* Pour topping over the shortbread and leave to cool.
(I skipped the following parts completely)
* When the topping is firm, break chocolate into pieces and melt in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water
* Spread over the topping and leave to set.
THE RESULTS
REACTIONS FROM MY "GUINEA PIGS"
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* Test subject 1 (aka me): "Presentation wise, beautiful. Taste wise... Gulp... this is highway to diabetes! So freaking sweet and to think I chickened out on adding the chocolate layer already! On the other hand, the base is yummy, buttery and crumbly like how the book said it should be..." |
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* Test subject 2 (aka Ben): "Ah ah ah" (opening mouth big-big... don't worry, I only give VERY TINY bits of the base crumbs to Ben)
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* Test subject 3 (aka hubby): "I'm going to get diabetes man... I love the base though, much better than the time you made butter cookies. If you scrap off the caramel layer, I'll be happy to eat this"
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* Test subject 4 (aka MIL): "The base is very hard for me to bite but the sweet layer is nice" (you need to know my MIL has only 3 teeth left and wasn't wearing her dentures and her tastebuds is wonky thanks to her radiotherapies sessions 2 decades ago due to nose cancer)
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So there you go.... my 1st MILLIONAIRE'S SHORTBREAD attempt!
Overall, I'm happy with this attempt - in terms of the base which is really nice and yummy plus the firm and yet crumbly part that is a satisfaction point for me. But horror is the caramel layer. It's wayyyyyyyyy to sweet for our likings except wonky MIL's tastebuds.
I think if I'm to try this recipe again, I'll definitely reduce the condensed creamer amount or probably just do away with it and do the chocolate layer instead. And a note on why I used condensed sweetened creamer instead of condensed milk, it's because that's the only thing sold in the supermarkets here. Read this article on "Condensed milk canned for good" if you still think I'm shitting you joking.
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