Gluten-Free Millionaire's Shortbread

As you may have gathered, I hate to bake things for a group of people when at least one of them can't eat said product. That's why I've really made efforts recently at making gluten free bakes :) This one was actually one of my first, but I've only just now gotten around to writing up the recipe. It's a beaut - millionaire's shortbread - layers of shortbread, homemade caramel, and a marbled chocolate topping. The shortbread is the only aspect that needed gluten removing from, but I ended up with a really good biscuity result! And don't worry, my caramel is foolproof :)

Makes 16-20 squares (fills a 20 x 20cm square tin prior to baking/setting)

Ingredients:

For the shortbread:

• 225g (1 cup) butter, softened
• 115g (1/2 cup) golden caster sugar
• 225g (1 & 1/2 cups) plain gluten free flour (I use Dove's Farm), plus an extra tablespoon for dusting
• 115g  (1 cup) corn flour

For the (salted) caramel:

• 150g (2/3 cup) butter
• 1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk
• 100g (1/3 cup minus 1 tbsp) golden syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional)

For the chocolate:

• 150g (1 cup) milk chocolate
• 150g (1 cup) white chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 160c (150c fan)/ 355f/ gas mark 3. Grease and flour (using gluten free flour) the base of a 20cm square cake tin.

2. For the shortbread beat the butter in a large mixing bowl until it is very soft and spreadable. Add the sugar and "cream" (i.e. beat the sugar into the butter), until all of the sugar has been incorporated and the mixture has lightened in colour. This will only take a few minutes.

3. Sift in the flour and corn flour, and use a wooden spoon or your hand to beat the flours into the butter/sugar to create a dough (there shouldn't be many crumbs remaining in the bowl if you lift the dough out). As soon as the ball of dough is formed, stop working the dough.

4. Lay out a sheet of clingfilm, and lay the dough on top of it. Cover with another layer of clingfilm, and roll out the dough to a 20cm square (it will be about 1cm thick).

5. Transfer to the cake tin (minus the cling film), and prick all over with a fork.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden on top, and the top feels crisp to the touch (i.e. it doesn't feel soft when pressed). Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

7. Make the caramel. Add the butter, condensed milk and golden syrup to a saucepan and place on a low heat. Stir until the butter has melted.

8. Turn up the heat to bring the mixture to a boil. At this point keep stirring the mixture as the base may catch otherwise. Keep stirring and boiling until the mixture turns a deep caramel colour - this will take 3-5 minutes, depending on the heat of your hob. Once ready, take off the heat and pour on top of the cooled shortbread. If you want salted caramel, add the salt to the caramel at this stage. Leave to cool.

9. To make the chocolate topping, melt the milk and white chocolate separately in bowls in a microwave, heating for 10-20 second bursts, stirring well between each addition. Once both chocolates have melted, place a layer of clingfilm on a baking tray/rectangular chopping board. Place spoonfuls of milk or white chocolate over the clingfilm, and use a spoon to lightly marble the chocolates together, to make a square about 22cm in size. Place in the fridge to set.

10. Once set, trim the chocolate with a sharp knife to 20cm, and place on top of the cooled caramel shortbread. Place the whole millionaire's shortbread in the fridge for at least half an hour, then slice into squares.

11. Enjoy!