Millionaire Shortbread

This image might be familiar to a few readers. It was the cover of a book of recipes I did for my friends and family back in 1989. Jane Bresnick came with me to the San Francisco Farmers Market on Alemany Ave. (not in the fancy clean Ferry Building but right off of highway 280) in the wee hours of a November morning. Jane took the photos in black and white then made this collage and hand painted it for the cover. It makes me chuckle to think back on this project.

This is a picture of me and Jane on my wedding day.  And yes, she was small and had the greatest smile. She made the most incredible Super 8 movie of our wedding. I have to remember to get it transferred to a DVD someday.

In honor of Jane who died in March, her great friend Christine Carswell gave me this recipe which was one of Jane’s favorite desserts. Christine brought this to her memorial and it is indeed worthy of the title. There are other recipes on the web for this Scottish staple, but I think this one is tops.

Those of us who knew her are all thinking of Jane today as it would have been her 46th birthday. Many of her freinds are gathering at the Parea Wine Bar in San Francisco to raise a glass to and for her.

Scottish Millionaire Shortbread from Christine Carswell

Makes about 32 bars

Shortbread
6 oz unsalted butter, very soft
3 oz light brown sugar
7 oz plain flour
2 oz corn flour or rice flour
(you can also just use 9 oz plain flour, but the shortbread will be less short, meaning crumbly/vaguely crispy)

Caramel Center
8 oz unsalted butter
4 oz baking/ultrafine sugar
1 small can (14-oz) condensed milk
4 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup (or substitute clear honey)

Chocolate Topping
10 oz semisweet chocolate, in chunks
1 oz unsalted butter

Method
Line a 7 x 10 inch baking pan with enough aluminum foil to drape over the ends. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the shortbread, in the bowl of an electric mixer using the beater attachment on medium speed—or in a large bowl using a wooden spoon by hand—beat the butter and brown sugar until creamy and pale. Sift the plain flour and cornflour or rice flour together over this mixture. Stir it until a clump is formed. Briefly and lightly knead the mixture into a ball. Press the mixture evenly into the baking pan. Prick it all over with a fork. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-45 minutes, until the shortbread smells toasty and is golden brown. Leave the shortbread to cool in the pan on a baking rack while you make the caramel.

To make the caramel center, put all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Stir occasionally as the butter and sugar dissolve and as you let the mixture come to a boil. If you see brownish clumps forming, stir vigorously to break them down. Once the mixture reaches a boil, stir continuously for about 5 minutes until the caramel is golden. Pour the caramel over the shortbread and leave to set (about one hour).

To make the chocolate topping, put the chocolate and butter into a glass bowl and set it over a pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture from time to time. When the chocolate and butter have melted, stir them together to make a smooth sauce and pour this over the base. Set aside to cool.

When the chocolate has been setting for about an hour and is no longer molten nor fully hardened, run a knife through the chocolate layer to delineate bars of the size you like. (I usually make 4 strips lengthwise x 8 across to make bars that are roughly 1 x 1.5 inches.) You want to do this before the chocolate has fully set because it makes it a lot easier to cut nice neat bars later.

Once the chocolate has set, pull on the ends of the aluminum foil to take mixture out of the pan. Peel off the foil and place the Millionaire’s Shortbread on to a cutting board. Retrace the markings you made in the chocolate, cutting all the way through the caramel and shortbread with a sharp knife to make the bars.

The bars will store in an airtight container for about a week, although they never last that long in this house—which is more than can be said for the Amish Friendship Bread Starter that Jane gave me every year!