Chocolate caramel bars with a salty sprinkle

MAKES 14 BARS

Cooking oil spray

FOR THE BASE

180g unsalted butter

220g plain flour

50g icing sugar

¼tsp fine sea salt

FOR THE CARAMEL FILLING 380g sweetened

condensed milk

50g dark brown muscovado

sugar

100g dark corn syrup

(available online)

100g unsalted butter

¼tsp fine sea salt

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (or 1tsp vanilla paste)

FOR THE TOPPING

40g walnuts

200g dark chocolate

15g unsalted butter

½tsp sea salt flakes

1 Preheat the oven to 160°C/ 140°C fan/gas mark 3. You’ll need a 23cm square cake tin. Cut two pieces of baking paper big enough to cover the sides with some overhang. Spray the tin with cooking oil and lay one piece of paper in the tin then place the second piece on top to form a crosshatch.

2 To make the base, melt the butter and leave to cool a little. Put the flour, icing sugar and salt in a heatproof mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour the butter into the dry ingredients and mix with your hands to form a sticky paste. Press into the tin and smooth out with a spatula. 3 Bake for 45min until a light brown biscuity colour. If any bubbles form under the base while baking, prick with a skewer to gently deflate them.

4 Meanwhile, put the walnuts on a baking tray, place in the oven at the same time as the base, and toast for about 20min, or until deep golden brown in colour. Remove and allow to cool.

5 Fill a pan with 5cm water and sit a heatproof mixing bowl on top making sure it doesn’t touch the water below. Bring the water to a gentle simmer.

6 To make the caramel filling, put all the filling ingredients in the bowl and melt over the simmering water on a mediumlow heat. Stir occasionally, until the butter has fully melted and emulsified. The consistency should be thick and gloopy and the colour a shade darker – this will take about 10min.

7 As soon as the base is ready, remove from the oven and immediately scrape the caramel filling over the top. If the base cools too much, it will recede from the sides of the tin, leaving the edges of the baked filling without a base underneath.

8 Reduce the oven temperature to 120°C/100°C fan/gas mark ½. Return the filled base to the oven and bake for 15-20min.

If it starts to brown too quickly, reduce the temperature slightly and continue to bake. When cooked, the middle should feel set and a little rubbery and the sides should be starting to blister and turn light brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely at room temperature.

9 To make the topping, melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of just-boiled water. Stir well, then pour over the top of the caramel. Smooth lightly with a spatula or simply tilt the tin to distribute the chocolate.

10 Crush the toasted walnuts with your hands, then sprinkle them with the salt flakes over the top. Cool until the chocolate is set to your liking – glistening and runny (about 15min) or firm (about 45min). Take hold of the excess paper to lift out of the tin and place on a chopping board.

Peel the paper away from the sides. Dip a serrated knife in hot water, dry, then chop into bars.