Caramel Shortbread aka the Diet Killer

I have a guilty secret - I also love non cake treats...sssshhh! I had such a sweet craving last night so I whipped up a batch of Caramel/Millionaires Shortbread and it came out perfect. I use a recipe I found on All Recipes here with a slight amendment to the caramel section of the recipe. I will repost the entire amended recipe but please note I give full credit to the person who posted it at All Recipes:
Shortbread Base

• 150 g unsalted butter, softened
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 155 g plain flour

Caramel Filling

• 150 g butter
• 150 g packed light brown sugar
• 397ml can of condensed milk

Topping

• 200g Milk Chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
2. For the base - In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, and flour until evenly crumbly. Press into a 9 inch square baking pan. Prick with a fork all over. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. For the filling - Place the butter and sugar into a non-stick pan and stir over a medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. To make a golden caramel, add the condensed milk, stirring continuously, until the first bubbles appear on the surface. Remove from the heat as soon as it comes to the boil.
4. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute, then stir and continue to heat and stir at 20 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour chocolate over the caramel layer and spread evenly to cover completely. Chill. Cut into 1 inch squares. These need to be small because they are so rich.

Please note: this shortbread is highly addictive.

How to do...Brush Embroidery.

A little while back I enrolled with, and finished, a sugarcraft course at my local college in Nottingham. It was a great course, but a few weeks from the end I fell in the freak snow weather we had in February, and broke my elbow. Unfortunately for me this means I missed the last few lessons of the course, but I kept in contact with my lovely tutor. She is now re-running the course and has invited me back to re-sit the lessons I never got to attend. This week I learnt about brush embroidery.

I have a lovely new lightbox...

After months of posting photos and looking through albums of other cake makers, I have always known I have a cheap camera but wondered how everyone gets their photos to look so nice and clear? Well the other day I was reading one of my favourite blogs Cookie Crazie and read about her new lightbox made for her by her son.

Giant cupcake - dressed!

Here is my 2nd giant cupcake made using the Nordic tin I posted about yesterday. I made a chocolate poundcake recipe this time and it came out lovely again.

It was a really moist recipe, I've heard lots of scare stories about the top of the cake overcooking and burning but both my attempts have been successful and I think the key is in cooking on a low heat for a long time (325f for 60-70mins).

Giant cupcake - first attempt!

My husband recently bought me a Nordic Bakeware giant cupcake tin and I made my first cake in it late last week. My son and I just iced it with simple chocolate frosting and it was pretty messy but the cake came out great! I just used the recipe that came with the tin, it was quite complex compared to the cakes I normally make but it literally slid out of the tin when it was finished baking so I am impressed with their 'non-stick' claim as its actually true! I am making another chocolate version tonight so will post more pics of that soon.

I went shopping today...

That was my first mistake. My 2nd mistake was to be let anywhere near a cake decorating section! In my defence I needed a new fondant rolling pin and I also needed somewhere to start to put my collection of icing nozzles. That mini drawer system is a revelation!

The flower plunger cutters, angled spatula and small star icing nozzle are pure indulgence but I work hard, so I thought I deserved a treat. Don't I??

My husband dispares...how do your partners cope with a cake obsession?

Easter cookies and cupcakes

Here are the cupcakes and cookies from the earlier post.

Easter orders

Tuesday saw a made rush of orders for Easter cupcakes as people started to realise that chocolate Easter eggs are sooooo last year. Well, saying that I have gone out and bought my family lots of eggs so maybe that's not true?...

So I thought I'd share some pics of my Easter treats with you - I ended up doing cupcakes and cookies in a springtime theme and then I had a cake order for an 80's TV show cake topped with an edible image. I find it difficult to get a sharp edge with a fondant cake so the edges are a bit rounded - does anyone know the best way to try and get a sharp edge to a cake?

Happy Easter/holiday weekend to you all. Pics all uploaded seperately.

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A little present for my best friend's birthday

Here is tonight's latest offering, a chocolate cupcake topped with vanilla buttercream and homemade marshmallow fondant pink bow. The bow also has some edible bright pink glitter just to highlight it and make it a little more special. Best friends deserve it don't they?