By Emma Chow
A few years ago I had the revelation that the Australian favourite – the Caramel Slice – is not unlike a Twix chocolate bar. As a child, I remember my Dad always had one of these in the glove compartment of his car; every time he bought petrol he’d buy a couple from the service station. He had a sweets addiction. Conveniently divided into two sticks, he would always give me the second one. If he were still around, I’d make this for him whenever he asked; a far more delicious treat than anything you could ever buy at a service station.
This caramel slice has a thinner layer of caramel than a lot of other recipes but a nice thick layer of dark chocolate ganache, so it is not as sweet. The base is also more robust, with the nuttiness and wholesomeness of oats. So you can feel slightly less bad about consuming multiple pieces. I recommend cutting this small, into pieces about 3 x 3cm.
Base Ingredients
1 cup flour
¼ cup rolled oats
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
60 grams butter
1 egg
Caramel Ingredients
½ can of condensed milk (around 200 grams)
¼ cup brown sugar
40g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup (you can also use honey for a lovely honey caramel)
Topping Ingredients
80 grams dark 70% cacao chocolate
¾ cup cream
Method
Line the base of a 30 x 30 cm baking tin with baking paper.
For the base, combine the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celcius.
Chop the butter into small pieces and work into the dry ingredients until the mixture is breadcrumb-like.
Add the egg and work it in with your hands to combine.
Press the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until light golden brown in the centre. Allow to cool
Start preparing the caramel. In a small pot combine the condensed milk, brown sugar, butter and golden syrup. Put on medium heat and bring to the boil. Stir constantly with a spatula for 7 minutes until it is thick and pulls away from the sides of the pot.
Pour the mixture over the base, spread evenly and allow to cool.
Put the chocolate in a bowl and add the cream to a small pot and bring up to heat till it is just about to boil. Remove from heat and pour cream over chocolate. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
Spread the chocolate ganache over the caramel layer. Put in the fridge to set for 1 hour.
Cut into pieces about 2-3cm square. This way you won’t feel so bad consuming them when they’re so small.
This keeps for up to a week in the fridge (but it’s not going to last that long!).
