The Baker’s Dozen – Millionaire’s Shortbread
Hoy te traemos la receta de un famoso dulce tradicional británico. ¿Te atreverías a hacer este delicioso shortbread pero con su receta en inglés? Yummy!
Welcome back to the Baker’s Dozen and to this month’s tried and tested recipe for Millionaire’s Shortbread.
As many of you may know, shortbread is originally Scottish in origin. You can read more on the history of shortbread here, and the recipe included in the link will provide you with a delightful bite with a cup of tea; but today we’re looking at Millionaire’s Shortbread. I am sorry to say that by baking or eating it does not make you a millionaire, if it did I would be a multi-millionaire by now! The most common explanation for the name seems to come from the range of ingredients needed to make it. This delightful ‘sweet’ is essentially a layer of shortbread, topped with a layer of chewy caramel and then finished with a layer of chocolate – a homemade and just a little bit larger than life Twix bar. It is very nice indeed but be warned; it is quite sweet and even though I have a sweet tooth, I can only really eat a small square of it.
My children have tested Millionaire’s Shortbread many times in countless cafés in the UK but I haven’t made it until very recently. This recipe was given to me by my sister and she has made it countless times for her children and they have assured me that it is most delicious. My children have introduced some of their friends to it and now whenever it’s made, we do have to send some into school for the friends – although my youngest daughter isn’t too keen to share it!
Millionaire’s Shortbread
Shortbread base:
100g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
175g plain flour
Topping:
400g of condensed milk
100g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter
2 tbs golden syrup
175g milk or plain chocolate
Method
Heat oven to 180º
Base
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the flour and stir until the mixture binds together.
- Kneed until smooth and press the mixture into the base of a greased shallow 20cm square tin.
- Prick all over and bake in oven for 20 – 30 minutes until golden brown. It’s best to take it out when it is just starting to turn golden, if you leave it too long it will be a little too hard. Leave to cool
Topping:
- Place the condensed milk, sugar, butter and syrup in a pan and heat gently until sugar is dissolved, then boil for 6 – 8 minutes, stirring all the time. This is the caramel topping.
- Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Pour the caramel topping over the shortbread base and allow to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate and spread over the caramel. Leave to set and cut into squares.
Sit back and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee but to burn off the huge amount of calories you will have consumed with just one piece, you will need to go, at least, for a very brisk walk.
Vocabulary
Tried and tested: used many times before and proved to be successful
Larger than life: an object that attracts a lot of attention because it is more interesting than it’s equivalents
Caster sugar: white sugar that is finer than sugar used for tea and coffee, it’s especially used for cooking
Tbsp: a large spoon used for measuring food and liquids and it’s equivalent to about 15ml or 15g.
Golden syrup: a thick, sweet, gold – coloured liquid used in cooking to make food sweet
Plain chocolate: also known as dark chocolate and contains around 70% cocoa or higher
Cream (together): the action of beating food together, either through using a wooden spoon or a whisk, to make a smooth and pale mixture
Fluffy: for cooking the mixture will be fluffy when it has been beaten together and is full of air
Kneed: to work into a uniform mixture by pressing, folding and stretching. It’s a similar action to make bread. (Amasar)
Prick: to make a very small hole or holes in the surface of something, more often than not with a fork when cooking
Brisk: quick, energetic, active
