A bake worth a million

This recipe has been much requested by both gluten-free and non gluten-free friends alike, and always goes down a treat when I have made it for parties! I cannot take 100% credit as my mum and I cobbled this recipe together from other recipes (see credited).

Gluten Free Millionaires Shortbread

This recipe is really simple to make, and it extremely addictive! The shortbread base is made of Polenta (cornmeal) and can be used as a biscuit base for most other things, such as cheesecake, but is equally nice on its' own! The recipe I use is from The More Than Occasional Blogger's recipe for Millionaires shortbread, I just use a slight variation for the caramel.

Ingredients:

(you may wish to halve as this makes a lot!)

• 200g ground almonds
• 250g ground polenta
• 225 softened Butter
• 225g caster sugar

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to about 170̊C
2. Mix together the almonds, polenta and caster sugar in a large bowl until throughly mixed
3. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients until it looks like fine breadcrumbs
4. Press into a baking tray evenly, make sure it is deep enough to hold the caramel/chocolate later on!
5. Using a fork, prick holes into the shortbread to stop it bubbling
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I find it is best to keep an eye on it, as the first time I made it it was hard enough to break your teeth. Leave it so it is still slightly soft to touch, as it hardens further when cooled

For the caramel I use a tin of caramel, like The More than Occasional Baker does, but thicken it with a bit of help from Mary Berry. The following recipe for thicker caramel is taken from Mary Berrys recipe for Millionaires cheesecake, from her 'Mary Berry Cooks' recipe book.

Ingredients:

• 25g butter
• 50g light muscovado sugar. Soft brown works well too
• 1x397 can caramel condensed milk

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a medium pan
2. Stir in the sugar on a low heat until dissolved
3. Add the canned caramel and bring to the boil, stirring constantly
4. Once boiling, set a timer for 4 minutes. Keep it boiling whilst constantly stirring, until it has darkened/thickened slightly.
5. Stir vigorously, ensuring to catch any that is catching around the edge.
6. You will feel it begin to thicken slightly. When removed from the heat and the bubbles have subsided, you should be able to draw a path through the caramel and see the base of the pan easily.
7. Leave the caramel to cool for 5-10 minutes, after which you should be able to roll a small, soft ball out of it.
8. If it is too soft/runny, boil for another minute
9. Once the consistency is correct, spread it over the prepared shortbread. Keep in mind that if you leave it too long it will begin to set further in the pan!

Once the caramel has completely cooled, melt 200g (ish) of chocolate and pour over the caramel. You can choose any chocolate, but personally I think choosing anything other than Cadburys would be a let down! Once you've made this a couple of times, (believe me you'll want to) you will be able to figure out better whether you want to adjust the ratio of shortbread/caramel/chocolate.

Enjoy eating! x

Update. Plus Food.

Turns out my timing for starting a blog was pretty poor as I have been non stop the last few weeks! So since I last posted I've been busy sorting out lots of wonderful issues with my house (not fun), but on the plus side I got my ears pierced (finally manned up) and have just had my haircut so it now has a lovely fringe.
One of the reasons why I wanted to start this blog was because in recent months I've found a real passion for cooking, especially Asian/foreign cooking. One of my FAVE films is Julie and Julia, based on a blog in which the former works through Julia Childs' 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' in just one year. Living in a student house and being on a budget restricts me from tanking through a recipe book in a particular time, so I thought I would instead post as and when I've cooked something particularly tasty. My boyfriends coming to visit next week and have loooooads of delicious food planned for whilst he's here, so I should hopefully get some yummy foodie pics to post after that! 
Until then.....
Some recipes/improv food I've made recently

 A quick and tasty lunch; bacon noodle salad. I tend to use supermarket brand instant noodles without the seasoning, fry up some bacon, cut it up and mix it in, then mix in some lettuce. Rocket is a tasty alternative to basic green leaves. Use a seasoning of your choice, I either use Knorr Aromat or Soy Sauce (low salt).

 An absolute fave of mine, and a real treat when tiger prawns are on special offer; Indonesian style Stir-fry. It's simple; fry up some mange tout, baby sweetcorn, red pepper and onion, toss in the prawns (cook for longer if raw), add a sauce of your choice and voila! Serve with noodles or rice. You can get lots of ready made stir fry sauces, I'm a big fan of Blue Dragon sauces myself. They are not too difficult to make from scratch, it just depends if you want to stock up on the different spices. The sauce i've used here is a supermarket own one called "Nasi Goreng", but is essentially soy sauce, garlic, fish sauce, onion and chilli.

Who doesn't love a good pizza? I bought a packet dough mix from the store for very little, and then went all out on the toppings. This particular one was inspired from my trip to Sorrento a few years back, the toppings being mostly parma ham and a VERY generous helping of fresh mozzarella. The tomato base itself was very simple to do. I boiled down a value tin of chopped tomatoes with some onion, garlic and oregano; a mix that gives that truly authentic Italian taste. I know you're probably dying to know why on Earth I've ruined a perfectly good pizza with a bunch of green stuff. Well the green stuff in this photo is actually Rocket (you may have noticed I'm a fan), it's slight peppery taste really complements the other toppings. It also happens to make a fantastic BLT.

Check back for more yummy recipes soon enough! x