Lottie Bedlow's millionaire shortbread with boozy ganache recipe

Details

• Cuisine: British
• Recipe Type: Biscuit
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 120 mins
• Cooking Time: 70 mins
• Serves: 12

Step-by-step

To make the biscuit base

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line your baking tin with nonstick baking paper. 
2. Put all the ingredients for the biscuit base apart from the chocolate chips into a food processor and blitz to a dough. Transfer to a bowl, then work the chocolate chips evenly through the dough using your hands or a spatula.
3. Transfer the dough to the lined tin and press it out flat to cover the base, making sure it reaches right into the corners and is as even as possible – the back of a spoon might help you here. Bake for 25 minutes. 
4. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. 

To make the caramel

1. While the base is baking, heat the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil and continue boiling, stirring constantly, until the butter and sugar have melted (when you press a spatula against the side of the pan, you shouldn’t feel any sugar crystals) and the mixture has darkened – this normally takes about 8 minutes for me. Add the condensed milk and stir for another 15 minutes, making sure no mixture is sticking to the bottom or sides of the pan. 
2. You will now have a fudgy-textured caramel. Pour this straight on to the cooling biscuit base in the tin and leave to cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for an hour. 

To make the ganache

1. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over a low heat until steaming but not boiling. While the cream is heating, break up the chocolate into small pieces and place in a large heatproof bowl.
2. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, making sure all of it is covered, and leave for about 5 minutes to melt before stirring vigorously to form a smooth chocolatey cream.*
3. Splash in the booze and stir again. Pour the ganache on top of the chilled caramel and smooth out as much as possible, then return to the fridge for an hour to set.

*If you’ve stirred vigorously for some time, the mixture has cooled and you still haven’t lost all of the chocolate lumps, then you’ll need to play a risky game with the microwave. This mixture must not get too warm, so pop your bowl in for 10 seconds maximum and stir as quickly as you can to get rid of those lumps once and for all.

To add the topping

1. Melt the milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave using the heat, stir, repeat method. Do the same with the white chocolate in a separate microwave-safe bowl.
2. Pour the melted chocolates on top of the chilled ganache layer in any pattern you like. I pour the milk chocolate on first and then pipe the white chocolate on in lines and drag a cocktail stick through it to create traditional feathering.
3. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before carving and serving. Use a hot knife to cut your slices and make them small – you don’t need much of this!

This recipe is extracted from Baking Imperfect by Lottie Bedlow, published by Hamlyn (£20). Photography by Tom Regester.