Millionaire’s shortbread. A buttery crust, a thick layer of toffee, dark chocolate. Rich, delicious, decadent. I don’t see how one could need any more incentive to make these.

 

The recipe was originally posted by the lovely Mille® on recipezaar.com. I have metrified.

 

Caramel Squares

 

Shortbread crust:
100 g butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
60 g cornstarch, sifted
85 g all-purpose flour, sifted

 

Caramel filling:
125 g butter
85 g brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 (385 g/14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

 

Chocolate topping:
240 g dark chocolate, melted

 

Preheat oven to 175°C. Line and grease an 18 cm x 28 cm (7″ x 11″) tin.
To make crust: Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
Sift in the cornstarch and the plain flour; mix. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly to make a smooth dough.
Press the dough into the prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes, or until firm.
To make filling: place the butter, brown sugar and honey in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and the ingredients are well combined. Bring to the boil and simmer for 7 minutes.
Beat in the sweetened condensed milk and the vanilla essence.
Pour the filling over the baked crust and bake for 20 minutes longer.
Allow to cool completely.
Topping: Melt the chocolate over the top of a double boiler, and spread the melted chocolate over the filling. Set aside until firm, then cut into squares.

Store squares at room temperature in an airtight container.

 

It was a very good gooseberry year. There are probably still a few litres of berries hiding inside the thorny bushes, because we just gave up a few weeks ago: the freezer is full and there’s only so much gooseberry pie two people can eat! This is new recipe I tried out this year: ripe and juicy green gooseberries meet sweet bananas in a jam. Perfectly delightful!

 

Gooseberry and Banana Jam (makes about 1,5 litres)

 

700 g gooseberries, topped, tailed and rinsed

2-3 tablespoon water

2 bananas, chopped

500 g sugar with pectin

 

Put gooseberries and water in a saucepan. Bring gently to boil.

Gradually stir in sugar. Simmer for about five minutes.

Add chopped bananas and continue to simmer for about ten minutes, stirring gently occasionally.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for half an hour, stirring occasionally (and skimming off foam, if needed). When the jam begins to set slightly and the berries no longer rise to the surface, transfer into sterilised jars and seal.