Millionaire’s shortbread. Millionaire shortbread. Caramel shortbread. Caramel slices. No matter how you slice it (or spell it), it’s delightful…it’s delicious…it’s decadent!
Though not as well known in the U.S. as it is in Scotland and Australia, who vie for inventors’ bragging rights, this indulgent treat comprises three layers — buttery shortbread, chewy caramel and a thin topping of crisp chocolate.
According to the The Guardian, the name “millionaire’s shortbread” originated in Scotland, but the first recipe for a nearly identical “caramel shortbread” first appeared in The Australian Women’s Weekly in 1970, albeit without the chocolate on top. A similar recipe with a chocolate layer was published in a book of recipes put out by the Scottish Association of Young Farmers’ Clubs in 1972.
However, the idea of topping shortbread with caramel predates either of those recipes by almost 20 years, as attested by this recipe in another Australian publication (along with an ingenious method for making caramel by boiling an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for 2-3 hours so that, upon opening, one sees that the milk has turned into a golden, rich caramel!). Down under, where these bars are more popularly known as caramel slices, coconut is often added to the shortbread dough.
Nearly all the recipes I found when searching online for millionaire’s shortbread used sweetened condensed milk as a base for the caramel rather than the traditional, melted sugar method highlighted on this episode of The Great British Baking Show. Knowing the trouble I’ve had with caramel in the past, I compromised and followed Steven’s method, combining brown sugar with butter and cream and heating it to soft-ball stage (235-240°F on a candy thermometer). It resulted in a soft caramel that holds its shape at room temperature but tends to squish out from beneath the chocolate when you bite into it. Next time, I might take the caramel to firm-ball stage (245-250°F) and/or melting some butter with the chocolate to make a softer chocolate topping.
with a fork.
into the pan…
For the shortbread, I started with this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen but added orange zest and substituted some of the flour with ground pistachios. The nice thing about this recipe is that it uses melted butter, which really brings the mixture together quickly and makes it easy to press the dough into the pan — no chilling or rolling needed. I was really pleased with the results; it made a nice crunchy base for the caramel, and the flavor combo was on point!
The hardest part about making these bars was cutting them into perfect, identical pieces. Clearly, most of the contestants knew this would be a problem, which is why they used individual molds. I didn’t want to go out and buy molds just for this challenge, so I thought I could use my 14-by-6-inch tart pan and cut the shortbread into 18 identical triangles … not! You can see from my photos that they are all different sizes, and the chocolate topping broke on most of them. The best method of cutting them that I found was to heat the knife over my toaster oven so it would slide right through the chocolate, but it was still hard to cut through the shortbread layer without destroying the whole slice.
Still, they tasted good. (I mean, you can’t go wrong with the winning combination of chocolate, caramel and buttery shortbread, amiright?) And topped with pistachios that I bedazzled with edible gold leaf, they definitely lived up to their highfalutin moniker. I made sure to share them with friends so as not to be tempted to grab one every time I walked into the kitchen!
Orange-Pistachio Millionaire’s Shortbread
Caramel recipe adapted from TheGreatBritishBakeoff.co.uk
Credit for chocolate layer: AmericasTestKitchen.com
For the shortbread:
- 1½ c. all-purpose flour
- 3/8 c. sugar
- ½ t. salt
- 1 T. orange zest (the zest of one orange)
- ½ c. roasted pistachios, finely ground
- ¾ c. (12 T.) unsalted butter, melted
For the caramel:
- 2½ c. packed light brown sugar (about 1 lb.)
- 1 c. heavy cream
- 5 T. unsalted butter
- ¾ t. salt
For chocolate layer and decoration:
- 6 oz. bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, grated
- 18 whole pistachios
- Edible gold leaf (optional)
Directions
- Place oven rack in lower-middle third of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 14-by-6-inch tart pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. (Alternatively, if you just want to cut the shortbread into squares, you could use a 9-inch square pan.)
- For the shortbread, whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter until entire mixture is moist, like wet sand. Crumble the dough into the pan and press it into an even thickness using your fingers, a flat metal spatula or a small rolling pin. Pierce dough all over with a fork at 1-inch intervals.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. Transfer pan to a wire rack and press down on the surface of the shortbread with a flat metal spatula to compress. (This should make the bars easier to cut.) Leave to cool about 20 minutes until just warm while you make the caramel.
- To make the caramel, first fill a large metal bowl about half full with ice water and set aside. (I put mine in the kitchen sink.) Then put the sugar, cream and butter into a heavy-based, medium saucepan over low heat. Heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and the sugar is completely dissolved, about 10-15 minutes.
- Turn up the heat, bringing mixture to a boil and stirring constantly for another 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is thick and a rich caramel color and reaches 235-240°F. (For a firmer caramel, bring it to 245°F.)
- Remove from heat and plunge the base of the pan into the bowl of cold water to stop it from cooking further. Stir continuously until the caramel begins to thicken, then remove the pan from the water and stir in the salt. Stir for 3-5 minutes more or until the caramel is very thick but still warm and spreadable.
- Pour caramel over the cooled shortbread, smoothing it with an offset spatula if needed. Refrigerate for 15 minutes until firm. (If it’s chilled for much longer than 15 minutes, remove it from the refrigerator and leave at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before pouring melted chocolate over it. If the caramel is too cold, the chocolate will harden quickly and won’t spread evenly.)
- In a small, microwaveable bowl, microwave the 6 oz. of chopped chocolate at 50% power, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted but not much warmer than body temperature, about 1-2 minutes total. (By holding the bowl in your hand while stirring, you can feel the temperature of the chocolate.) Once it’s melted, add the grated chocolate and continue stirring until all the chocolate is melted. If necessary, microwave at 50% power for 5 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted. Pour chocolate over caramel and smooth with offset spatula if necessary.
- Let chocolate set, but before it is too hard, remove the shortbread from the pan, using the edges of the foil or parchment paper to lift it out. Using a ruler and a knife, make a mark every 1½ inches along both long edges of the chocolate. With these marks as a guide, cut the shortbread into 18 triangles, starting from the corner of one edge to the 1½-inch mark on the opposite edge, then from that point to the 1½-inch mark on the other edge, etc. (See diagram below.)
- Heat whole pistachios in a pan on the stove or in a toaster oven until slightly toasted. Use tweezers to place one on the wide end of each triangle, pressing down until the chocolate melts enough to keep the nut in place. Use tweezers or a small, food-safe paintbrush to adorn the pistachios with gold leaf, if desired. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Discover more from Here's the Dish
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
