Millionaire's Shortbread

Tomorrow is Monday 15th, which can only mean one thing: returning to Oxford tomorrow, wahoo!

One of the reasons I get so excited about going back to University is that it gives me a HUGE excuse to bake. And by "huge", I mean a large group of hungry students. aka. my lovely friends.

So today has been reserved for a bake-a-thon for a very long time, and this is only the first of many more posts about what I shall be taking back with me for them all to indulge in before the carnage of Trinity (summer term) and prelims (exams, *gulp*) begins.

Last term, I "pidge loved" one of my good friends Boo a slice of millionaires shortbread. ("Pidge loving" means putting something yummy/sweet/generally nice in a friend's pigeon hole, where their post is put by the college porters.) A few hours later I received a very enthusiastic text from Boo, exclaiming that millionaires shortbread was her "favorite thing ever!" And obviously, due to my undying love and devotion to Boo, I decided to bake it for her :) Here's a picture, just to help you visualize this anecdote:

Lovely, isn't she?

Anyway, here's the recipe:

200g butter (For the shortbread)
150g caster sugar (for the shortbread)
300g plain flour (for the shortbread)

300g butter (for the caramel)
140g caster sugar (for the caramel)
75g golden syrup (for the caramel)
397g can condensed milk (for the caramel)

200g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate
200g white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Lightly butter a Swiss roll tin measuring about 30cm x 20cm.

Combine the shortbread ingredients in a bowl and blend to a smooth dough. Press the dough into the prepared baking tin and prick it all over with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes until it is golden brown and firm. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Pre oven before I tidied it up.. 

Make the caramel: combine the butter, sugar, syrup and condensed milk in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the butter has melted. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture looks like thick caramel fudge. Resist eating it all straight from the pan. Pour over the cold shortbread in an even layer and leave to cool.

Mmmm.. calories...

Mmmm... Melted calories...

Mmm.. brown melted calories...

Mmm... brown melted calories in a tin...

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, then pour the chocolate over the caramel layer, spreading it evenly with a palette knife. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Pour into a piping bag, snip off the end, and drizzle over the millionaires shortbread.

Leave to cool, then cut into squares with a sharp knife. Makes approx 15 squares, or 18 slightly smaller ones :) My Best Ever Triple Chocolate Brownies also make an amazingly indulgent treat.

Orange and Sultana Traybake

This was the result of a baking urge that simply could not be suppressed.

Turning to faithful Mary Berry on the bottom shelf of my bookcase, this was the only thing I fancied that we had the ingredients for.

A good thing too! It turned out to be delicious.

AND these would make a delicious Easter treat due to their traditional orange flavouring, rather like a hot cross bun in a cake, don't you think?

Recipe:
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
275g self-raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons of milk
275g sultanas
grated rind of 2 oranges
demerara sugar, to sprinkle
225g icing sugar
freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius (fan 160). Grease a 30x23cm traybake tin then line the base with baking parchment.

Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and  beat until well blended. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes then sprinkle the top with demerara sugar and return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes or until the cake has shrunk from the edges of the tin.

Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into slices. Make up the icing, and drizzle generously over the top.
Decorate as you choose, I used Lakeland orange and citrus sprinkles.