I feel so guilty having neglected this blog for the past few weeks! I had the craziest busy week last week, but its all a bit more normal now so I'll just brush off the cobwebs and get back to regular posting. This week is National Baking Week, so I'm hoping you'll crack out the mixing bowl and get baking! I've got four shiny new recipes coming up for you over the next four days and each one is simple, quick(ish!) and delicious!
National Baking Week has been designed to not only get the nation baking, but to also raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital through bake sales - all the details of how to do this can be found on the National Baking Week website. Raising money for a great cause, you can eat ALL the treats and not feel guilty at all so there's no excuse not to get involved!
Millionaires Shortbread is my favourite, but I've always been put off baking it because of the time it takes, and I've long been freaked out about making my own caramel (I had one bad experience with an exploding bowl when trying out a microwave recipe and I've never quite recovered from it...) but this one is great as it can be made much more easily and quickly by taking a few short cuts. Using a digestive biscuit base and a pretty foolproof method for making the caramel, the only really time consuming thing here is the chilling, but you could easily do that overnight and all you'll have to do is cover with chocolate the next morning and enjoy!
Ingredients:
Base:
200g digestive biscuits
60g butter, melted
Caramel:
150g butter
150g dark brown soft sugar
1 can (397g) Condensed Milk
Topping:
200g dark chocolate
100g white chocolate
Makes 25 mini squares, or 16 bigger pieces
Method:
1. Crush the digestive biscuits until they resemble crumbs, and stir in the melted butter, making sure all of the mixture is covered. Press the mixture into a well greased and lined tin, using the back of a metal spoon to smooth the surface. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. To make the caramel heat the sugar and butter in a pan over a low heat, gently stirring until melted. Add the condensed milk and bring to a rapid boil, stirring continuously. Cook for a minute or so, until the caramel has thickened. Pour over the base and chill for at least 2 hours, but overnight if possible.
3. Once the caramel has set, melt the dark chocolate and spread over the caramel. Working quickly before the chocolate sets, add spoonfuls of white chocolate and swirl using a skewer or toothpick to create a marbled effect. Return to the fridge to set for about an hour.
4. Using a hot knife (run under boiling water then dry) cut the shortbread into squares. I actually found the easiest way to do this was with a pizza wheel, but you have to make sure its really hot!
Store in an airtight container in the fridge and these will last for up to two weeks, well, if you can resist for that long!
Join the baking revolution and share your recipes on twitter with me @millieismagic and the baking week team @bakingweek
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