Sweet Café Classics - Salted Caramel Shorties

 

Mmm ... luscious salted caramel over a shortbread base layer, and then topped with chocolate. 

It's my version of Millionaire's shortbread, of course. But with my favourite salted caramel. Not too salty, and just enough to take the edge off the sweetness.

These were definitely one of our Sweet Cafe classics and always on the counter.

It took me a little while to play around with the flavours and get the balance just right, but I think this is pretty much one of the best bakes I came up with.

The recipe itself is fairly simple but it needs to be done in stages, allowing time between each to cool. The good thing about this is that you can fit it around other things (see the tip below!). 

Salted Caramel Shorties

Ingredients 

makes 16 slices, 432 calories per slice

Biscuit base

185g softened butter (I use Lurpak slightly salted)

75g golden caster sugar

250g plain flour

Preheat your oven to 160 Fan (180 conventional). Line an 8 inch by 12 inch pan (20cm by 30cm). (I like this loose-bottomed one by Silverwood) 

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the flour, and mix until you have a soft dough.

Press the dough into the lined baking tray (try and keep it mice and level), and bake in the centre of the over for approx 20-25 minutes until pale golden in colour.

Remove and allow to cool.

Caramel Layer

185g butter

75g golden caster sugar

75g golden syrup

400g tin condensed milk

1 tspn salt flakes (Maldon is ideal)

Place the butter, sugar, syrup and condensed milk into a small saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and stir gently wile the sugar dissolves. Take care to reach the bottom of the pan, so that the caramel doesn't catch. 

Once the sugar has dissolved, allow to reach a gentle boil while stirring constantly. Continue on to stir for 5 - 7 minutes until the caramel thickens and turns a dark amber. Remove form the heat, and briefly stir in the salt. 

Pour over the biscuit base so that it covers it evenly. Allow to cool.

Once cool,  place in the fridge for a couple of hours. This will help the caramel set, and  provide a cool base for the melted chocolate and will help it set. 

Remove from the fridge when you're ready to do the chocolate layer.

Chocolate Layer

250g milk chocolate chips (I use Callebaut callets which are 33% cocoa)

40g plain chocolate chips (again, 55% Callebaut callets are my preference)

10g butter

Place the chocolate chips and butter in a bowl, and warm over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir gently occasionally, until the chocolate and butter has melted and is evenly mixed. 

Pour the chocolate over the caramel layer and spread evenly. The cool caramel will help the chocolate thicken - I like to make a wavy pattern with a spatular to create a bit of interest. 

Allow the chocolate to set. I tend to return the pan to the fridge for a bit, but remove it about 20 minutes before you want to cut into slices. This means that the chocolate softens slightly, which makes cutting easier.

Out of fridge for 30 mins and ready to cut

Cut into 16 slices, and sore in an airtight container.

Perfect with a cuppa.

Enjoy!

Susie x

Tips - Time management and multiple bakes

One of the things I used to stress over when baking for Sweet was time management. I'd have to bake in the evenings ready for the next day, and would only be able to start once our evening family routine was done. A late start often meant a late finish (usually well after midnight) which became extremely wearing very quickly.

So, at the start of my 'shift', I'd often combine these with baking Brownies, so that would knock two bakes off my list very quickly. 

You can prepare the base for the Shorties ready to go in the oven, then make up your batch of Brownies. They both bake at the same temperature, for the same time. 

While they were baking I'd make up the next thing to go into the oven (usually a couple of Victoria Sponges - one for a typical jam sponge and the other for my Lemon Mess Layer), and pop them in the oven as soon as the Shortie base and Brownies were done. Then, while they were cooling, I'd make up the caramel layer and pour it over the cooled base.

Once the caramel layer was done, I'd cling film the entire pan as it was, and refrigerate overnight, ready to add the final chocolate layer in the morning. That way the cool caramel would help the chocolate set quickly - which I found in turn would help to stop the chocolate taking on a 'bloom' and discolouring.

The other neat trick I came up with would be to make a double batch of the mix for the base, and use the second half as the base for a batch of my tangy Lemon Bars. 

These little short cuts may not sound much, but when you've got to produce a number of different bakes in as short a time as possible, every little thing you can do helps. Trust me, I know. So I hope these little insights may be useful - you may have occasions where you need to bake up a number of options quickly.