Millionaire's Shortbread

This recipe is taken from "1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & other tempting treats" by Susanna Tee. We've been baking it for years now and every time the Twin visits me at Uni my house-mates put in an order for several boxes of these decadent treats. It's got to the point now that my house-mate's boyfriend magically appears at the house a few minutes after the Twin ever arrives, and a few minutes later he's already devoured about 3!
Note: although in the book it says makes 12 we've found it makes more like 20, depending on how big you want your shortbread.  We have also doubled the amounts for the shortbread base, otherwise the caramel can feel very thick in comparison.

Millionaire's Shortbread

Ingredients (Makes 12)

Shortbread:

• 230g butter
• 350g plain flour 
• 110g caster sugar 

Filling and topping:

• 175g butter
• 115g caster sugar 
• 3 tbsp golden syrup 
• 400g condensed milk 
• 200g plain chocolate/ dark cooking chocolate - the darker you can find the better! 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a square 9-inch baking tin with baking paper, using butter to stick it if necessary. 
• Sieve the flour then place along with the butter and sugar into a food processor and mix until everything is bound together and you have a smooth dough. Press the dough mixture into the tin and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
• Remove and leave to cool. 
• Whilst the shortbread is cooling you can get started on the caramel filling. Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring the whole time. The mixture should become thick and a deep golden brown colour which indicates it is ready. If the mixture is still quite thin after 10 minutes of simmering keep stirring and simmering for another 5 minutes or so. 
• Pour over the shortbread base and chill in the fridge overnight. 
• To make the chocolate topping, break up the chocolate into chunks and place in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the water in the pan is not too high- it should not touch the bowl at all. 2cm of water in the bottom of the pan will be sufficient. Stir the chocolate as it melts, taking the bowl off the pan and away from the heat when the chocolate is about 75% melted. Keep stirring and allow the heat of the chocolate to melt the remaining chunks. This technique should prevent the chocolate from burning.
• Allow to cool for a couple of minutes then spread over the caramel, then chill for a few hours. 
• Remove the millionaire's shortbread from the tin and cut into chunks. 

Traditional Sponge Cake with Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Fudge Cake Sauce

This is my go-to cake whenever I need to whip something up for a friend's birthday. The chocolate sauce is very decadent so is perfectly balanced against this light sponge. Sponge cakes can take a while to perfect and I find the best results are achieved with an electric mixer combined with a lot of practice so roll up those sleeves and get going!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 8 oz self raising flour
• 8 oz caster sugar 
• 8 oz olive spread (or butter) 
• 3 eggs

For the chocolate fudge sauce: (recipe fully accredited to Nigella Lawson)

• 125g butter
• 90g dark chocolate plus a bit extra to decorate
• 140g icing sugar

Equipment:

• Electric mixer
• Two round baking tins 

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease the two baking trays with a little bit of butter. 
• Weigh out the sugar and butter then cream together in the mixer.
• Weigh out and sieve the flour. Add about 3/4 of the flour to the mixture and mix on a high setting for about a minute. 
• Whisk the eggs then add into the mix along with the rest of the flour. Mix together again on a high setting until everything is combined. The general wisdom is that too much mixing will knock out all the air from the mixture however I find that a final mix on a really high setting for about 30 seconds produces a very light cake. 
• Pour half of the mix into each tin then use the back of a knife to even out the mixture. 
• Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. To test if the cake is done or not push lightly on the top of the cake- if it bounces back up then it is fully cooked. 
• Leave to cool for a good half an hour. Remove the two cakes from the tins and cool a bit more on a wire rack whilst you make the icing.
• Weigh out all the ingredients. Cream together the butter and icing sugar until it has a very light and creamy texture. 
• Place the dark chocolate in a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Keep the water on a medium heat and stir the chocolate until it starts to melt. Once 3/4 of the chocolate has melted take off the heat and continue to stir until there are no lumps and the chocolate is fully melted. It is important to keep an eye on the heat of the water, keep stirring constantly and to take the chocolate off the heat before it is all melted in order to prevent it from burning. 
• Add the melted chocolate to the icing mixture and mix until the icing is a consistent dark brown colour. Spread half on the top of one of the cakes then place the other cake on top. It is important to ensure the cakes are completely cool before doing this. Spread the rest of the icing on the very top of the cake.
• Decorate! Try grating a line of dark chocolate over the top, scattering some white chocolate buttons over the top or crumbling some ginger biscuits. 
• Keep in an airtight container.