Chocolate & Hazelnut Caramel Slice
Well, here I am on my wonderful work-free
Friday. Work, that is, in the paid
sense. The other unpaid kind is what’s
eating away at my day today. That, and
the incessant pull of social media just in case I’m missing something
interesting. I often wonder how I get more done when I have less time at home
but I already know the answer. So I’ll just call it pottering and look upon it
as a form of relaxation.
I’ve been listening to a radio discussion on
Retired Husband Syndrome (RHS) that made me laugh out loud. A study has found
that many women with a retired husband at home suffered stress related symptoms
such as insomnia, headaches and depression (and presumably extra work cleaning
up after the husband’s “bright ideas” or projects?). As I was chortling away (in my defense, it
was presented in a humorous tone), a certain thread of trepidation crept in, making
me realize I too would find it difficult not to have my cherished “home alone” time.
It’s a long way off but I am thankful then to have a large shed where he can mess
around until his heart is content and I won’t be setting foot in or cleaning it. Whew!
One thing I did achieve today was making
this slice. I’d been thinking of driving
20 minutes to experience a similar one at a local café but decided to stay put,
brew a good coffee and make this using some leftover chocolate ganache and sweetened condensed milk I had in the fridge. I’m glad I did.
The recipe comes from the Little & Friday cookbook given to me
as a Christmas present last year. Eight months later, I hadn’t baked one single
thing from it so it was time to change that.
It’s a wonderfully gooey, fudgy, chocolate
slice. I expected it to be similar to
Millionaire’s Shortbread (my recipe here) but the chocolate base and caramel
& hazelnut filling are both different and gorgeous and I love the hazelnuts.
Not surprisingly it’s an “in demand” best-seller for Little & Friday.
I'm entering this for Sweet New Zealand, hosted this month by Munch Cooking.
Chocolate & Hazelnut Caramel Slice
Base
175g butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
½ cup good quality cocoa
1½ cups plain flour
½ tsp salt
Filling
2 x 395g tins sweetened condensed milk
200ml golden syrup
100g butter
1 cup roasted hazelnuts*, chopped
Topping
¾ cup chocolate ganache
*To roast hazelnuts, heat oven to 180°C. Place hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for
10 minutes. Leave to cool. Rub hazelnuts briskly in a tea towel to
remove the skin and chop into about quarters.
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Grease and line
a 25cm square tin (leave an overlap of baking paper lining for easier removal
from tin).
Place the butter, icing sugar and vanilla
in a cake mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Sift
the cocoa, flour and salt together and add to the mix, again until well
combined.
Press the mix firmly and evenly into the
base of the baking tin. Bake for 10-15
minutes in the centre of the oven.
While the base is cooking, prepare the
filling by combining the condensed milk, golden syrup, butter and hazelnuts
into a saucepan. Heat slowly over a low
heat then pour over the cooked base.
Return the base and filling to the oven
and cook for a further 15 minutes or until set.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Once cool, spread a thin layer of hot
chocolate ganache over the top. I removed the base and filling from the
baking tin before I spread the ganache on top.
Once the ganache has set, use a sharp
knife to cut into squares or slices. Dip the knife in hot water and wipe off
with paper towel between each cut for easier slicing.
Ganache (makes 1 cup – use ¾ cup for above recipe)
200g good quality dark chocolate (I use Whittaker’s
72% Dark Ghana)
½ cup cream
Gently melt the chocolate and cream in a
metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (the water should not touch the
bowl). Stir until melted and
smooth. Leave to cool and thicken.
Leftover ganache can be stored in the
fridge for up to two weeks (or eaten by the spoonful if you are so inclined!).
