Kids in the Kitchen...part 2...

...well one of them at least! Earlier this week Alex asked if he could borrow my nice new post-it notes that my good friend Jules had given to me...(she thought they would come in handy now that I'm blogging and marking many many recipes in books!!! How right she was)...what a great friend :-) 


When asked why he needed/wanted them he replied..."So I can look through your '500 Cookies' book and see which ones I want to help make." Well what was I supposed to say to that? He even colour coded them...green for the ones to make first!!
How sweet...But then a couple of days ago, whilst I was distracted by something else he asked if we could make Millionaire's Shortbread from the '500 Cookies' book on Sunday...and I foolishly said yes!!! Needless to say the afternoon today was spent making Millionaire's Shortbread...with Alex's help!!


It wasn't too bad, and I do keep saying to both of the smallish people in our house that they should do more kitchen chores get more involved in the kitchen...


One thing to bear in mind if making these sweet squares of gooeyness...timing is crucial...they take about 3 and a half hours in total...as you need to allow for 'cooling in the fridge time'....beware of this!!


He really concentrated weighing out the flour...200g of it...

...the icing sugar...50g of that...

...the cold, unsalted butter 225g of it (It had already been put into the bowl!!!)...he concentrated hard on making a wee bit of a mess too!! But I didn't mind too much...

...then he rubbed the butter into the flour and icing sugar...not sure he enjoyed that bit!! He kept trying to get the dough off his fingers!!! 

Once the shortbread dough came together, he had to press it into a foil lined tray about 22x33cm...and he carefully put it into a pre-heated oven Gas 4/175c...yes, I did make him wash his hands before he started!!!

The shortbread base cooks for about 15-20 minutes, until it looks golden...

Alex couldn't do this next bit...making the caramel filling from 125g unsalted butter, a 400g tin condensed milk (they come in 397g tins here which is what we used!!), 5 Tbsp golden syrup and 1 tsp vanilla...you melt the butter in the microwave, stir in the condensed milk and golden syrup, then microwave on full power for about 8-9 minutes...stopping every minute or so to stir...I found that as it got to about 6 minutes cooking time you I was having to stop every 30 seconds or so as the mix was bubbling like mad!!! Stir stir and stir some more is my hint here!!! Then add the tsp vanilla, stir again and pour all  over the warm shortbread base...

The tray has to go into the fridge for about 2 hours then...so planning your time is crucial...especially if you are hoping to have some after dinner...you need to start in plenty of time!!

Once the caramel has cooled you can melt 200g chocolate (we used 150g dark and 50g milk, just so it wasn't too dark!) plus about a teaspoon of butter (it helps keep it glossy) and spread it all over the top...

Then it's time to wait again...we popped it back in the fridge while we had dinner.

Then, just before the chocolate sets too hard, cut it into squares, triangles, rectangles...whatever shape and size you want...and pop it back in the fridge to finish firming up...

Another warning though..it is very very sweet, and very very moreish...one piece is enough, but then again it isn't!!!


I think Alex did really well making these with me...and I know he enjoyed testing them!!