Gluten Free Millionaire's Shortbread

Alright, hands up anyone who doesn't like this decadent treat? Its always been one I have loved, though I have never had the pleasure of hand made, as my mother thought it was too much hassle to make when she could buy it. I have always bought it. Tiny squares of Thornton's millionaire's were the first thing I ate after my daughter was born and I had been nil by mouth for almost 24 hours and boy, it was like ambrosia at the time. 

BUT, here I am, trying to be wheat free, and I look at those shop packets with longing. So, I steeled myself to give it a try. I am incredibly pleased with my success, as is my son who calls these 'special biscuits'. He's right of course, they are a bit special. Now, from the picture, you might notice that my caramel is a bit.... blonde. I used white sugar instead of brown in the caramel and trust me, it tastes perfectly right. It just looks... blonde! And my chocolate could have been tidier, but that comes from massive impatience in waiting to cut and try it. If I had wait for it to set properly, it would have been prettier. 

So that said, the recipe! The base is Gluten Free! Yay! Its a very short shortbread, very crumbly, but tasty and moreish, you just need to have a plate/bib to hand when eating!

Shortbread:

250g Plain White Flour
150g Butter
75g Caster Sugar

Caramel:

100g Butter
50g Brown sugar
400g Condensed Milk
 

Topping:

200g Milk chocolate
2 tbsps Milk

Shortbread

Once again I am using a Doves Farm flour, this time their plain white blend:

* Mix together the flour, butter and caster sugar to form a soft, crumbly dough.

* Press the dough into an oiled appropriately sized baking tin. Mine is square and... no idea how big! I've had it for years.

* Prick surface with a fork and bake in a pre heated oven for 20 minutes at 180°C /Fan160°C /350°F/Gas 4     

While this is baking, clear enough room in your fridge for the baking tray when its cool enough. Seriously, you will need to. The Doves Farm flour came through once again to make a lovely shortbread base:

 Set aside to cool, and once cold enough, put it in the fridge until cold. And you want it cold before you move on.

Caramel

* Put the caramel ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes stirring all the time. 

If you don't, it will crystallize and go grainy! Its a pain, but worth it.

* Remove from heat and spread over the cold shortbread.

* Put into fridge till cold!

Now this is what happens if your recipe doesn't stipulate brown sugar and you use ordinary caster sugar:

Blonde caramel. Just as tasty as her brunette sister!

Topping

* Gently melt together the chocolate and milk.

* Spread topping over cold caramel.

That simple! The milk slows how long it takes for the chocolate to set so you have time to work it, and it adds creaminess of course. You can sub in milk chocolate for any chocolate of your choice.

Now, put it in the fridge. Leave it. Leave it! I would advise topping with chocolate before bed, then not touching it till well after breakfast. Once it is well and truly cold, cut into slices and lift out of the tin. I would suggest to take out a corner piece first and due to the very short nature of the shortbread, expect the first slice to be a write off you will just have to eat what you can of immediately to avoid waste. Tragic. But once the first is out, the rest come easily. 

So there you are, one very decadent treat, made with gluten free shortbread!

Till next time

Kat xxx

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