Madhouse recipe : Terry's Chocolate Orange Millionaire's Shortbread

I love Terry's Chocolate Orange. When I was growing up, they went with Christmas, as I'd often find one in my stocking, and even now, while I'll happily munch on the bars throughout the year, I reserve the original orange-shaped ones for Christmas. There's something about the whole ceremony - tapping it on both ends, peeling back the paper, fanning out the segments then passing it round for everyone to take a piece - that makes it seem extra special.

When Terry's got in touch and asked if we'd like to try out their recipe for Millionaire's Shortbread, we were delighted, but the Madhouse kids were horrified when they read through the method and discovered that we had to melt a Chocolate Orange. They thought it was totally sacrilegious so I had to buy some of the bar formats for the melting part, and save the Chocolate Orange for decorating the tops !

 Terry's Chocolate Orange Millionaire's Shortbread

The Terry’s Chocolate Orange Millionaire's Shortbread is an irresistible twist on the traditional recipe; the crumbling shortbread base and indulgent caramel perfectly combine with the signature chocolate orange flavour for its top layer decorated with the iconic orange segments.

Prep time 45 minutes

Cook time 50 minutes

Makes 25 squares

Shortbread:

135g Butter

175g Plain Flour

55g Sugar

1 Orange, zested

Topping:

379g can Condensed Milk

75ml Golden Syrup

150g Butter

100g Sugar

3 Terry’s Chocolate Oranges

Preheat the oven to 180c/160fan and line a 20x20 brownie tin. In the bowl of a food processor, add the butter and plain flour. Blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and then add in the sugar and orange zest and blitz again to combine. Take the mixture out and work with your hands to form a ball of dough. (I did this by hand and replaced the butter with margarine so it was easier to mix.)

Push the dough into the base of the lined tin until it is flat and even and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the caramel. (I halved the quantities and still had plenty.) In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the condensed milk, golden syrup, butter and sugar until the butter has melted and the mixture begins to boil. 

Stir constantly to keep it from burning. Turn the mixture down to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the colour starts to become golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl to cool and thicken slightly.

Once the shortbread is cooked, allow to cool for 10 minutes and then pour the cooled caramel over the top. 

Allow to cool and then chill for 10 minutes while you melt the chocolate.

 Bring a small pan of water to the boil and place a heatproof bowl over the top making sure that the water does not touch the bowl directly. Break up the chocolate oranges into segments, reserving half of one for decoration and tip the rest into the bowl. Turn the heat down immediately to a gentle simmer and allow the chocolate to gradually melt, stirring occasionally. (I used the microwave instead.) 

Once the chocolate has melted, remove the shortbread from the fridge and pour over the chocolate, making sure to spread it into the corners. Use the remaining chocolate segments to decorate the top and then chill until firm. 

Once the chocolate is set and you are ready to serve, slice into 25 squares. (I followed the size of the chocolate orange segments so we got 12 pieces.)

 This was a huge hit - so much so that I didn't even get a taste (except for a bite of Pierre's piece) because the kids polished the remaining squares off for dessert before I got home from work the next day. They've made me promise to make some more though, so next time I'll make sure I get in first !

Disclosure : Recipe courtesy of Terry's, who provided some Chocolate Oranges to try it out.