Proper Chocolate Caramel Slice

A cake blog which includes a hipster, no-refined sugar, date-caramel chocolate caramel slice really does also need to have a recipe for a proper chocolate caramel slice as well.

I mean, look at it. That is food porn, right there. FOOD PORN.

It has a comforting, old-fashioned biscuit crust, which is at once shortbread-like and still slightly wholesome: the rolled oats and coconut in there makes a valiant attempt to take the edge off the real, honest-to-goodness, actual, proper caramel filling. Forget sad, uber sickly, sweetened condensed milk based chocolate caramel slice, which is so icky it can fell a bear at a thousand paces, this caramel is from scratch: sugar, cream, butter – and a dash of salt.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, this is still unbelievably sinful, completely delicious, and so ridiculously rich you won’t be able to eat nearly as much at a time as you would like! But that’s part of the fun, right?

Proper Chocolate Caramel Slice

Makes 25 – 30 pieces

Slightly Wholesome Biscuit Crust

ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup fine desiccated coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

115g unsalted butter

mixing

In a food processor, process the flour, oat, coconut and brown sugar until combined. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the dry mixture. Process until fine crumbs start to form. Line a 20 cm x 25 cm square baking pan with baking paper. Press the biscuit mixture firmly into the tin and smooth the top evenly with the back of a spoon.

Bake at 175°C for 15 minutes until the crust is lightly golden brown. Let cool. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C.

While the crust is baking, make the caramel.

Pour the caramel over the base while its still warm. Return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Cool, then chill.

When the slice is cold, top with the chocolate topping, and smooth over the slice (and the edges if desired). You can put the topping on the slice while it is still in the tin, or remove the caramel and biscuit slab from the tin and trim the edges with a hot, sharp knife as pictured below. If you have trimmed the edges, you can spread the chocolate on the outer sides of the slice as well.

When the chocolate is set, use a hot, dry knife (dipped into hot water, then dried on a paper towel) to cut the slice into 25-30 pieces.

Proper Caramel

Here’s the deal: use 250g butter if you want ooey gooey caramel that oozes slightly when you bite into the slice. Use 350g for a firmer caramel. 300g (below) is somewhere in the middle.

ingredients

300g caster sugar
90 mL water
200 mL cream, warmed
300g butter
3/4 tsp salt

mixing

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat over high heat, shaking the pan often, until the sugar starts to dissolve and the mixture starts to boil. Let the mixture boil, shaking the pan often, until the sugar syrup starts to caramelise. Sugar syrup keeps cooking when you remove it from the heat, so take the pan off the heat as soon as a golden colour starts to form. You can always put it back on the heat for a few seconds to continue to caramelise the syrup.
Let the caramel syrup sit for a few seconds and then carefully add the cream in a thin stream, stirring constantly. The mixture will bubble up ferociously and a lot of steam will be generated so take care not the burn yourself! When all of the cream has been incorporated, return pan to the heat and stir constantly until the mixture is smooth. Add the salt to taste. Let the caramel cool a little, then stir in the butter, stirring until completely incorporated.

Chocolate Topping

The two different chocolates combine to give a special mouthfeel and flavour profile which goes wonderfully with Proper Caramel.

75g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
75g milk chocolate
4 tsp sunflower or canola oil

Melt the chocolate and stir until smooth. Stir in the oil until completely combined.

Enjoy!xxx

Proper Chocolate Caramel Slice