Salt Caramel Shortbread Recipe

I made these a while ago and have been meaning to post the recipe for ages.  They are (were) very scrummy and reasonably simple to make.  For this recipe I used the River Cottage Handbook No.8 called Cakes, written by Pam Corbin who features regularly on the River Cottage programmes.  I use this book a lot, the recipes are easy to follow and always turn out well.

Recipe

Ingredients

Shortbread
150g (5oz) unsalted butter, softened
75g (3oz) caster sugar
150g (5oz) plain flour
75g (3oz) semolina

(I didn't have semolina so adjusted my flour quantity to make up for it)

Caramel Layer
1/2 tsp sea salt (I prefer Maldon salt)
1 tin Carnation caramel

Chocolate Topping
150g (5oz) plain chocolate chopped
25g (1oz) butter
1 tsp flaky salt (again Maldon is good)


Shortbread

• Preheat oven to 170 degrees centigrade.
• Put butter in bowl and cream with sugar until it forms a soft paste.
• Sift in the flour, use a fork to bring together to make a soft crumbly dough.  Kneed the dough as lightly as possible until it is soft and pliable (an electric mixer can also be used on a low speed).
• Gently press the dough into a baking tin and prick the surface with a fork, bake in the oven for 30 mins, keep an eye on it, you don't want it to brown too much (mine did!!).
• Leave in the tin until completely cool (I would advise to do this, as warm shortbread will melt the caramel and chocolate layers and not set properly).

Caramel

• Sprinkle the salt into the caramel and stir through.
• Pour the caramel on to the cooled shortbread and spread in an even layer.
• Place in the fridge for 30 mins.

Chocolate Layer

• Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of very lightly simmering water. Melt and then remove from the heat straight away.
• Pour the chocolate over the caramel and sprinkle with the salt ASAP.
• Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to firm up.
• Once firm cut in to squares and eat, yum!

Note: This recipe works just as well without the salt and milk chocolate can also be used instead of plain.



Pin It