Grease and line the baking tin then preheat your oven to 180°C/Fan 170°C/356°F. Beat together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer (or large bowl with an electric hand whisk) until light and fluffy. Use room temperature butter for the biscuit dough. (Ingredients blend better when all at the same temperature.)

I’ve received comments about people getting little dark coloured lumps in the caramel, and this is down to catching. Once it’s caught, there isn’t really anything you can do, other than preventing it from getting any more burnt. I used the same shortbread recipe that I used in my Millionaires Shortbread, and the same caramel recipe as in my Salted Caramel Nut Slice, but I added the salt to the caramel itself this time. Golden syrup: This is actually an optional ingredient, since it can be difficult to find in some places. Just a couple of tablespoons does give the caramel an extra depth of flavour (that’s hard to describe!), but you can easily replace it with another kind of syrup (corn, maple, honey, date). Or just skip it altogether! If I could offer any preemptive words of advice, it would be to take your time, read the recipe all the way through and prepare your ingredients (weigh, chop etc) before you start.There’s nothing worse than getting to a critical part of a recipe, realising you have to weigh another ingredient then returning to the pan to find it’s already ruined.

Method

Essentially, this recipe fixes all the grievances I had with other recipes I’ve tried over my lifetime! days in an airtight container – in the fridge if it’s warm weather, otherwise in the pantry is fine. So… once you’ve reached the end of making it, you enjoy it. However, cutting it up can be an issue for some. As I used a 9″ square tin, I use a 26cm knife to cut it. This is because the knife is larger than the traybake, and it makes it a hell of a lot easier. I tend to make sure it’s straight, score the chocolate ever so slightly, and then just cut straight down. Caramel Filling– bring the butter and brown sugar to a simmer (this is caramel!) then stir in condensed milk. Whisk over low heat for a few minutes to give it some colour, then pour onto the base and bake. Baking is what makes the caramel set once cool. Butter – Always use unsalted butter in baking as it gives you control of the salt content/flavour. Ensure this is at room temperature for the biscuit layer.

Alternatively you can warm up a large sharp knife with boiling water and try cutting your slices using this! Step 4: To make the caramel layer, pour the condensed milk into a medium saucepan. Then add the butter, salt and golden syrup if using. Biscuits: The great thing is that you can use almost any biscuits you like to make the base. Since I’m in Australia, I tend to use plain sweet biscuits like Marie, Arrowroot, Scotch Fingers or Digestives. You could even try Anzac biscuits! In the UK, I’d try Rich Tea, Shortcake, Nice, Digestives or even Hobnobs. Use gluten free biscuits for a gluten free caramel slice, or how about ginger biscuits or Lotus Biscoff for something completely different? Lightly grease and line the base and sides of your baking tray and preheat your oven to 180°C/Fan 170°C/356°F. There is quiiiite a lot of biscuit in this recipe, but its an optional thing. The reason I use 500g of biscuits in this recipe is that a 9″ square is equivalent to a 10″ round recipe, and that’s pretty darn big. You can use less if you wish, but as you may have noticed from other recipes such as my Biscoff cheesecake, I love a deep biscuit base.Chocolate: I like to use a good quality dark chocolate for my caramel slice topping. You know, to balance out the intense sweetness just a tad. But of course you can use any chocolate – milk, white, caramel (Caramilk!), Mint, or any other kind you can think of. Inactive - Do very little exercise, going for the occasional walk (moderate pace, low intensity). Spend majority of leisure time doing activities such as watching TV, playing computer games, on the internet, reading, cooking, driving, general household chores. Golden Syrup – Brand doesn’t matter but golden syrup gives the best flavour. (You can use light corn syrup or honey in the US.) Normally I try to show a bit of self respect with up close “bite shots” and use a fork…. But I’m not going to lie to you – in this case I just took a big fat bite out of this Caramel Slice!!! Vanilla – A good brand (like Nielsen Massey) works well here. Supermarket versions seem flavourless in comparison.

You want to use a good quality pan if you can, as some pans have a very thin base. Basically, if the base is too thin, you might burn the caramel. So if you are worried, take the temperature down a notch and do it for a little longer instead to prevent any catching!Using a tinned caramel in place of making your own, will NOT work. Tinned caramels do not set, so it'll be messy. Light - Have a job that involves long periods of sitting (office-based / driving) or are home-based and sitting for much of the day. Typical jobs: office worker, sales rep, bus/taxi/lorry driver. I’ve only ever known it as a Caramel Slice, but I was quite interested to learn that overseas, it’salso known asMillionaire’s Shortbread (appropriate!), Caramel Shortbread, Chocolate Caramel Bars. Doesn’t really matter what you call these. Just the sight of them surely brings a smile to anyone’s face, and that, my friends, is a universal language. 🙂 (“That” being a Food Smile)