Millionaire's Shortbread

Welcome to my first blog from Ardeonaig! Different kitchen surroundings in the pictures – variation of the highest order. No expense spared in bringing you a fantastic blogging experience. And especially not today, when the haute cuisine on offer is the most superb and unsurpassable of biscuits – the millionaire's shortcake.

If you're unfamiliar with this confectionary (it is also known as caramel shortcake or caramel shortbread), it is very simple, but delicious. A shortbread base has a thick layer of caramel smothered on top of it before a layer of melted chocolate is applied and allowed to set. A marvel of baking goodness.

Let's just hope it survives the postal journey it's making this week – I'm sending it down to some friends in England...

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You will need:

200g butter

100g caster sugar

400g plain flour

2 tins condensed milk

200g plain chocolate

Start by boiling up your tins of condensed milk for a couple of hours as seen in my blog for banoffee pie. Remember to keep your pan topped up with water to avoid any unwanted tin explosions!

When there's about half an hour left for the caramel, cream together your butter and sugar in a bowl before folding in the flour. Make sure it's well kneaded.

You then want to take your dough and press it into the bottom of a greased ovenproof dish or swiss roll tin to a thickness of about half a centimetre or so. Allow this to bake in the oven at about 180°C for twenty minutes or so – until the biscuit has turned a golden colour and is now crisp and crumbly.

Remove your caramel from the pan carefully and pour it onto your biscuit. Spread thickly but evenly. Set it to the side to cool for an hour or so.

Finally, melt your chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. When the caramel is set, it should set thick enough that your chocolate can be poured over the top. Again, set this to the side to allow the chocolate to resolidify.

Once it's thoroughly cooled, cut it into squares to serve and enjoy! Unfortunately, with my haste to get the biscuits into the post, I forgot to take a shot of the finished product. But I'm sure you should know what it'll look like... and I'm slightly doubtful that it'll resemble what it should when it's gone through the postal system!

And don't forget to put your cut-offs in the staff lounge. Guaranteed to make you popular...  

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Coming up:

- A look at Killin, the local village, and the culinary delights it has to offer.