Caramel Slice

I adapted this recipe by Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats and substituted the store-purchased sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and vanilla extract for my homemade versions with perfect results.

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Ingredients:

Base

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup (80g) brown sugar, loosely packed

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

125g unsalted butter, melted

Caramel filling

125g unsalted butter, roughly chopped

1/2 cup (80g) brown sugar, loosely packed

1 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)

395g sweetened condensed milk

Chocolate Topping

200g dark or milk melting chocolate

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Base

1. Preheat oven to 180°C(fan forced 160°C)

2. Grease and line a 28cm x 18cm (lamington pan)/17.5cm x 27.5cm rectangle pan with baking/parchment paper (Note 2). Have an overhang for ease of removal.

3. Mix the base ingredients together, and press into a pan

4. Bake for 15 minutes until the surface is golden. Cool in the fridge if you

have time (Note 1).

Caramel

1. Lower oven to 160°C(fan forced 140°C)

2. Place butter, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, whisk to ensure the sugar is dissolved, then leave it until it comes to a simmer.

3. When bubbles appear, add condensed milk. Whisk constantly for 5 minutes (Note 2), until you start getting some big, slow bubbles on the base.

4. Once bubbles start appearing, whisk for 1 minute, then pour onto the base. Tilt the pan to spread evenly.

5. Bake for 12 minutes. Don't worry if you get splotchy brown bits (this happens with ovens that don't distribute heat evenly).

6. Cool on counter for 20 minutes, then refrigerate 30 minutes - the bottom of the pan should be warm but the surface cool (not cold) to touch. (Note 3)

   
   

Chocolate

1. Place the chocolate and oil in a microwave-proof bowl. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between, until chocolate is fully melted (takes me 3 x 30 sec).

2. Pour over caramel, spread with a spatula. Then gently shake the pan to make the surface completely flat.

3. Refrigerate 1 hour or until set. Remove from the fridge and leave out for 5 minutes to take the chill out of the chocolate. Then cut into bars or squares to serve! (Note 4)

Notes:

1. Cooling base - creates a neater line between the caramel and biscuit layer

2. Caramel - If you don't stir constantly, little brown specks will appear, as caramel catches on the bottom of the saucepan. It's not a major problem if you have some brown specks,won't affect flavour, just visual. If desperate, strain them out

3. Smooth chocolate - The refrigeration times are such that the caramel is mostly set, cool but not cold. That way, the chocolate doesn't set too quickly when you pour it on, so when you shake the pan, it will spread out evenly. 

4. To slice neatly, remove from the fridge 5 minutes before cutting. Run a knife under warm (not hot) water, wipe dry, then cut quickly. For very neat slices, clean the knife between each cut. Don't make the knife too hot, otherwise the chocolate melts when you cut it and smears into the caramel.