Millionaire’s Shortbread

If you love caramel then you will adore this recipe for deliciously decadent Millionaire’s Slice.

As you have probably guessed from the name of the slice, this is one rich treat – pun intended! Imagine a beautifully soft shortbread topped with a thick layer of rich, fudgey caramel and finished with a smear of chocolate… sounds delicious, huh?

While the making of this slice is a little steppy, it’s really very simple – the shortbread dough takes less than five minutes to pull together, mix and pop in the tin, then just 20 minutes in the oven to bake.

The caramel filling itself is made from very similar ingredients to Russian Fudge, which gives the caramel a deliciously fudgey taste while still retaining that distinctive caramel flavour. As for the chocolate topping? Well that’s simple – it’s 100% milk chocolate!

The three layers work together beautifully – the chocolate topping gives you a bit of crunch, while the caramel is soft and smooth to the bite and the shortbread crumbles away in your mouth. Given the name of this slice, why not serve it in style on a glamorous tray – like this one from Trelise Cooper.

Tip: Because of the thickness of this slice, the easiest way to cut it is to warm the blade of a large knife under warm water. Dry off the blade and begin slicing – you’ll notice the warm blade melts through the chocolate like it’s soft butter preventing it from cracking.

Makes approx. 72 squares

Ingredients

Base:

• 250g butter, softened
• 125g caster sugar
• 125g fine semolina
• 250g plain flour

Filling:

• 300g butter, cubed
• 140g caster sugar
• 75g golden syrup
• 395g (one can) sweetened condensed milk

Topping:

• 350g milk chocolate

Method

Base:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line a lamington pan with baking paper.
2. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until a smooth dough forms.
3. Press into prepared pan. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.
4. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan.

Filling:

1. Combine butter, sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk in a medium saucepan and stir over gentle heat until butter has melted.
2. Increase heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring continually, until mixture looks like thick caramel fudge.
3. Remove from heat and pour over cooled shortbread. Allow to cool.

Topping:

1. Break chocolate into pieces and place in microwave safe bowl.
2. Heat in 30 second bursts in microwave, mixing between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth.
3. Pour over cooled caramel layer and place in fridge to set.