Millionaire's shortbread

Ingredients

• 8 3/4 ozall-purpose flour
• 6 1/4 ozsalted butter, cold, cubed
• 2 3/4 ozsuperfine sugar
• 14 ozcondensed milk, one can
• 5 1/4 ozsalted butter
• 3 1/2 ozgolden syrup
• 3 1/2 ozlight brown sugar
• 1/2 tspfine sea salt
• 8 3/4 ozdark chocolate, about 55% cocoa solids, chopped

Method

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 350°F and line a 20 by 30cm pan. Rub the cold butter into the flour and superfine sugar until it looks like breadcrumbs, squeeze it into a dough, press it firmly and evenly into the pan and bake for 25 minutes until pale gold. Leave it to cool.

2. 2

   Put the condensed milk, butter, syrup, brown sugar and salt in a heavy pan over a medium-low heat and stir until the butter has melted. Bring it to a steady simmer and keep stirring for 10 to 12 minutes, until it has darkened to the color of peanut butter and reaches 240°F on a thermometer.

3. 3

   Pour the caramel over the cooled base, tilt the pan to level it, and leave it at room temperature for an hour until firm, then chill for another 30 minutes.

4. 4

   Melt the chocolate gently, pour it over the caramel and spread it level. Leave it for about 20 minutes until it has lost its shine but is still soft, then score right through into squares. Chill to set, and cut along the score lines with a warm knife.