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Best millionaires slice I’ve had was at Gloucester services on the M5.
Not surprising - that place is amazing (unless its mid day on a Friday/Saturday during summer).
@Sandwich Ah yes, Pump Street Bakery. My mother visits there a lot on dog walks and sends me photos of the teas she has had there. For me though, Orford will always be the place I used to buy smoked eels and other delicious smoked treats.
Has Wickham Market upped its game? I can't remember the last time I went there by choice outside of visiting friends or going to the restaurant that the New Peach Bower replaced. My misspent youth meant I was mostly just hanging around the Pettistree Greyhound playing pool.
As an adult when I moved 20 miles north to Glasgow, it was called “caramel shortcake” and people looked at me like I was a communist if I asked for “millionaire shortbread”
This has solved a long-standing source of puzzlement for me … I always wondered what millionaire shortbread was, as it looked just like caramel shortcake to me. Turns out they’re the same thing. I’m off for a wee lie down.
I like Portuguese custard tarts though.
Me too.
We had a lovely Portuguese tart and Millionaire shortbread at: The Old Barn, Marton in Cheshire. Always cut any cakes in half and share with hubby.
I like Portuguese custard tarts though.
I'm just off on a lunchtime walk. They local coop sell them. I might divert.
Interesting all the analysis of different recipes being discussed above. The sad reality is that probably 95% of the rancid millionaires shortbread you get in UK cafes will have been produced in the same Brake Brothers factory in Kent....
caramel shortcake
Caramel shortcake doesnt have the chocolate top coating, just usually a few chocolate sprinkles.
Thats kind of a Glasgow thing as they used to serve it at school.So not sure which part of Glasgow they're saying such.
The sad reality is that probably 95% of the rancid millionaires shortbread you get in UK cafes will have been produced in the same Brake Brothers factory in Kent….
You are definitely going to the wrong cafés! Motorway services, greasy spoons*, and high street chains? Maybe. Independent cafes, never in my experience. Maybe it's because I seek out those with really good coffee, homemade cakes and friendly staff. There are no shortage anywhere I've been if you make a little effort to seek them out.
*The subject of another thread perhaps. I really like a good 'greasy spoon' sometimes. A massive mug of steaming builders tea, a decent bacon butty or ham, egg and chips etc. when that's what you're in the mood for is epic. Not where I'd go if I wanted a goats cheese and quinoa salad followed by homemade cake though.
You are definitely going to the wrong cafés!
I didn't say I went to them. Like you I try to find decent ones.
I always find it a bit too rich personally
Very good
@thegeneralist, you'd be thrown out of Yorkshire for trying to pass that off as home made.
If the shortbread is really good then neither caramel or chocolate should be allowed anywhere near it. That millionaires shortbread is a good way of disguising, or even enjoying average shortbread .
Interesting all the analysis of different recipes being discussed above. The sad reality is that probably 95% of the rancid millionaires shortbread you get in UK cafes will have been produced in the same Brake Brothers factory in Kent….
well yes, in the same way that 95% of restaurants/pubs are generic & a bit shit. But I don't go to those if I can help it!! Homemade cakes are very high on my list of criteria for cycle stops! (as is locally made/craft beer if a pub is involved!)
@gordimhor - but if the shortbread is really good, chocolate and caramel make it even better.
I didn’t say I went to them. Like you I try to find decent ones.
Fair enough. I do dispute your 95% of cafes using Brakes stat though. In most small towns, for every Starbucks and Costa there will be 4 or 5 independent cafes. Often tucked away down side streets or in slightly odd locations off the high street. Nearly all of them bake their own cakes or use a local independent producer who does ime.
Cafes in museums, visitor attractions or the aforementioned motorway services and chain cafes etc. Then I would agree.
@Kramer Naah really good shortbread melts in the mouth, caramel and chocolate messes that up.
@willard Cafe 47 on the market square, there's also the CTC approved one down the street towards Lower Hacheston.
The Jamie Oliver - 'Best shortbread in the world' recipe is really, really good. Sugar, butter, flour and semolina (cornflour if no semolina). I've tried a lot of shortbread recipes in my time and his is the best. But for biscuits I'd probably go for Mary Berry.
If the cakes don't look completely perfect (unless made by a patissiere or trained pastry chef), then they're properly home baked and not churned out in a factory.
Our small town has some wonderful cafes and they produce top notch pastry and cake products.
I do love a bakewell slice, they're always moist and nutty, with that little kick of raspberry jam, but not with a soggy bottom.
No one wants a soggy bottom, cake or otherwise.
@Sandwich Thanks for the tip. If/when I am next back in the UK visiting relatives I will swing by and check them out!
We have some Gu zillionaire cheesecakes in the fridge.
all the sweet stuff is ruined by the use of margarine.
Say what, now? This isn’t the 1950’s, do they even still make the stuff?
Bit of a tangent but R6 is just playing this and it's always well worth a listen.
I'm amazed how many of you are getting a bit of this and thinking about the shortbread! The shortbread base should only be there as a way of holding the caramel and very thick chocolate together.
Granny Bradley's recipe has the chocolate as the thickest layer and the caramel is only just a smidge thinner and very runny. It should be impossible to eat neatly - the caramel should be squeezing out as you fail to snap the chocolate. The shortbread holds it together a smidge but you won't remember it as the diabetic coma from the caramel really hits home.
It's the best "traybake" style treat and I generally get it anywhere I see if if I want something sweet. Very hit & miss though; some make me reach enlightenment, some make me sad.
The Jamie Oliver – ‘Best shortbread in the world’ recipe is really, really good.
I googled this.
Ingredients
1 cup and 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
1/2 cup and 1 Tbsp. superfine sugar , sifted, plus extra for sprinkling
2 cups (scant) all-purpose flour , plus extra for dusting
2/3 cup semolina or 1 cup (scant) cornstarch
Go home America, you're drunk.
Inspired by this thread I went to our work "restaurant" (canteen) (owned by fudging Costa!) and bought the nearest I could find to Millionaires Shortbread... it was called Billionaires! Gotta be amazing, right? Nope, it was a chewy FLAPJACK topped with a drizzle of some stuff coloured to look like caramel and chocolate, but actually tasted of nothing. So a flapjack then. Slightly disappointing I must say. And I think it was over £2.
1 cup (scant)
Eh?
Eh?
Yeah, I had to look that up too. It means "a bit less than a cup."
@desperatebicycle - probably made by Brake Bros as referenced earlier in the thread?
I pity the poor folk who've not experienced the epiphany that is a proper home made millionaire's shortbread.
Yeah, I had to look that up too. It means “a bit less than a cup.
Imperial or US measurements in cooking irritate me. I do have some cup, tablespoon etc. measures somewhere for when I am forced to use them in a recipe, but I will always seek out a metric one for precision if I can. Even though I'm old enough to be comfortable working in imperial or metric with other stuff. 'Fluid ounces'? GTF!
My OH doesn't weigh/measure stuff when she bakes. She does it by eye (apparently) . So sometimes the result is excellent and sometimes it's awful. With a tiny amount of effort it could be consistently good all the time. This is why I don't understand people who say 'I can't cook'. If you can read well enough to follow a recipe and are numerate enough to understand weights, measures, temperatures and time - then you can cook. It's pure laziness. I suspect what people really mean when they say that is 'I can't be arsed, I want you to do it for me'.
Nope, it was a chewy FLAPJACK
Flapjack is far superior to shortbread, fact.
Imperial or US measurements in cooking irritate me.
I wrote about this at length a little while ago.
https://twitter.com/UKCougar/status/1563524116975874049
Or for the Ex-X users, https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1563524116975874049.html
I do have some cup, tablespoon etc. measures
To my mind I parse "cup" as "part" rather than an absolute measurement. Eg my pancake recipe is a cup of eggs, a cup of flour and a cup of milk, that works for whether the cup is a china teacup or a litre jug. Where the wheels come off is when you get non-cups measurements in the same recipe.
I bought a set of American measuring cups for when this is actually useful (eg, cooking absorption-method rice). They were hard to source because most measuring cups in the UK are slightly different, which should come as a surprise to no-one on either side of the pond.
Flapjack is far superior to shortbread, fact.
Agreed. When you want a flapjack!
Talking of cake(ish)... you seen this cake shop thing? Oooh lovely.
.
For Cougar
When you want a flapjack!
The only time anyone does not want a flapjack is when there also an option of a lardy cake
I wrote about this at length a little while ago.
Very good. I knew all that (less the motorway metre/yard thing) but it's not quite so absurd and amusing until you see it all listed like that.
A flapjack isn't 'better' it's just different. At different times you may legitimately prefer either. Flapjacks are far better suited to packing for travel (on a bicycle perhaps), due to superior structural integrity and the higher melting point of component parts. However low GI and slow release carbs just don't cut it when you want a sugar rush and instant gratification. It is written (somewhere) that man cannot live on flapjacks alone
A flapjack isn’t ‘better’ it’s just different.
Oh no, it's definitely better
However low GI and slow release carbs just don’t cut it when you want a sugar rush and instant gratification.
My flapjack recipe (and yes it's imperial measurements, but it's from an old book)
- 15oz oats
- 9oz butter (i.e. a whole block)
- 6oz sugar
- 6oz syrup
...so one-third of the thing is sugar, which should be ample gratification of your rush needs.
It is written (somewhere) that man cannot live on flapjacks alone
Maybe, but I bet I could give it a bloody good go.
Very good. I knew all that (less the motorway metre/yard thing) but it’s not quite so absurd and amusing until you see it all listed like that
I was wachting a youtube video about a car (not a regular occupation of mine, I might add) and he said it's mpg* was 16km per litre. I think that's quite good. My brain will never be able to convert to that though.
*he said fuel economy, but you know what I mean.
My flapjack recipe (and yes it’s imperial measurements, but it’s from an old book)
– 15oz oats
– 9oz butter (i.e. a whole block)
– 6oz sugar
– 6oz syrup
…so one-third of the thing is sugar, which should be ample gratification of your rush needs.
I am partial to a flap jack, but that's a bit too spartan for me. I like some dried fruit in there, cranberries, raisins, bits of chopped apricot that sort of thing. Maybe a few pumpkin seeds? Or a pinch of cinnamon? C'mon man, you know post war rationing has ended right?
I mean, of course you're right. That is the basic recipe, to which I should have added "and a good handful of whatever dried fruit, nuts or seeds you might like, and/or a generous teaspoon of ground ginger".
Not cinnamon though, we're not savages.
I'd never had Millionaires' Shortbread until I went on holiday to Scotland. The first place I had it was a cafe near the Great Glen Way north of Fort Augustus. I really liked it. After that, I started to see it in a few places in Kent, but it was never as good. I guess you are always chasing that first, best buzz.
For Cougar
Leg end, thank you.
it’s not quite so absurd and amusing until you see it all listed like that.
It was supposed to be amusing, I'm glad it landed.
My flapjack recipe
Here's mine.
125g premium rolled porridge oats
125g chopped crap oats
150g salted butter
75g golden syrup
75g soft brown sugar
Put the sugar, butter and syrup in a pan and heat until it’s liquified. Take it off the heat, stir in the oats. Press it into a lined baking tray.
For chewy flapjacks bake at 175’C for 25-30 mins, till browned. For crunchy do the same but at 190’C. Cut into slices whilst still warm.
If you're weight watching I did the math, 12 slices comes out at about 200kCal per slice.
we’re not savages.
Well. You might say that, but one can only go by the evidence*
*heretical attempts to reorder the recognised hierarchy of baked goods and recipes from some 'dig for victory' pamphlet which suggest a pantry full of powdered egg, turnips and camp coffee.
I did the math
[involuntary eyelid twitch of rage..]
*heretical attempts to reorder the recognised hierarchy of baked goods and recipes from some ‘dig for victory’ pamphlet which suggest a pantry full of powdered egg, turnips and camp coffee.
You've clearly never tried my turnip coffee cake.
Joking aside, millionaire shortbread should be treated with the same caution/suspicion as ordering fish and chips from a pub menu - occasionally it is truly excellent, but most of the time it's a bit shit and you wish you'd ordered something else.
Agreed, but I think you can tip the odds more in your favour if you are in an independent cafe where everything is home made rather than a chain.
As an aside. I will occasionally order fish and chips in a pub, but one thing I will never order from a pub menu is curry. I really like curry!
millionaire shortbread should be treated with the same caution/suspicion as ordering fish and chips from a pub menu – occasionally it is truly excellent, but most of the time it’s a bit shit and you wish you’d ordered something else.
I would agree with that. But when it's good, it's very very good.
he said it’s mpg* was 16km per litre. I think that’s quite good. My brain will never be able to convert to that though.
You can broadly convert km to miles as 3/5. 16*3=48, let's round that and say 50. /5=10. 10 miles to the litre.
You can broadly convert "per gallon" to "per litre" by multiplying by 4. (A US gallon is a bit less than 4L, a UK gallon closer to 4.5L,) 10*4.5=45mpg.
I ran that through an online converter and got "16 km/L = 45.19696 mpg (UK)" so I'll take that as a reasonable approximation.
You can condense these steps into one by multiplying by 2.8, that's harder to do in your head but "multiply by 3" isn't a back door off. 16*3=48mpg. So (km/L - 1) times three is on the money. It's probably at least as accurate as manufacturers' published figures which assume a spherical car in a vacuum on a rolling road.
(In any case, I think the Metric equivalent measurement is actually litres per 100km rather than km/L, which hurts my brane.)
which hurts my brane
Yes, thank you. Mines a bit sore now too.
Those shortbread recipes are missing rice flour from the mix. Trust me it makes a melt in the mouth biscuit as theres less gluten to get toughened and like icing sugar it's really fine.
and as if by magic..
There's a recipe for Millionaire Shortbread in the Glasgow Herald magazine today.
They must have been reading STW last week 😉
My aunt(s) in scotland made it back in the 60s
Ive no idea what we called it then
I notice that we are on page 4 and apart from a totally unjustified, and in fact plan wrong, attack on cooking chocolate, I notice that there has been no discussion of the type of chocolate required.
It should of course be plain chocolate with a reasonably high cocoa content, to balance out the sweetness of the caramel. Ideally Callebaut or Valrhona, but at a pinch supermarket dark cooking chocolate can be used, or Menier as long as you aren't boycotting Nestlé. Cooking chocolate like this is preferred because it is easier to work with and less likely to develop a bloom.
Bought some millionaire shortbread* today looking forward to scoffing some only to find (to my disappointment) it was flapjack. Still nice but not shortbread. The end.
*failure to read past first word on label and xray vision packed up, sigh.
@onewheelgood I think you are misunderstanding what is meant by “cooking chocolate”?
There’s a specific low quality product that’s designed to be a cooking ingredient and never to be just used as chocolate, and it is awful.
a totally unjustified, and in fact plan wrong, attack on cooking chocolate
Cooking chocolate is absolutely grim. An attack on it is wholly justified and I am surprised it wasn't banned for domestic use along with creosote, a similar product with about the same culinary utility.
Cooking chocolate is absolutely grim. An attack on it is wholly justified and I am surprised it wasn’t banned for domestic use along with creosote, a similar product with about the same culinary utility.
The thing is though, what makes an authentic Millionaire shortbread. It's a Scottish recipe dating from the 1950s that you'd make with ingredients from the village corner shop. Proper millionaire shortbread should be made with Scotbloc - forget percentages of coco solids - 'chocolate flavoured with a chocolate appearance' is what it should say on the packet. We used to refer to its as 'Chiglet' something so divorced from real chocolate you couldn't even use the same letters to spell it.
Making Miilionaire Shortbread with proper chocolate is like making haggis with saltmarsh fed lamb fillet. 🙂
I mean check out the small print on the Morrisons label 'no artificial flavours' - rejected!
@maccruiskeen and that’s exactly why there are so many people on this thread who’ve obviously only experienced shite millionaire’s shortbread and so find it mediocre. It’s all about the details.
Also your comparison with haggis is void. Haggis is actually improved by the fact that it’s minced heart and lungs, whereas millionaire’s shortbread is not improved by using cheap ingredients.
Wise words Kramer. We are amongst heathens.
If this thread was sponsored by the millionaire shortbread marketing board then it was successful...but now I am looking back at the selection and wishing I'd chosen the flapjack or the peanut butter brownie.
whereas millionaire’s shortbread is not improved by using cheap ingredients.
Quality ingredients aren't improved by making Millionaires Shortbread with them. I know we live in a 'gourmet burger' era of throwing expensive ingredients in a bun and thinking thats 'cooking' and all that. But if you're paying for something made with good chocolate why not expect people to make an effort and do something good with it, more than the sum of the parts and all that. Not just the parts piled on top of each other..
Good millionaire's shortbread takes a lot of effort. It's all in the details, the correct recipe and method of making the shortbread, and the correct ratio of shortbread to caramel to chocolate. You can tell when someone's made the effort to get it right.
Cooking chocolate is absolutely grim. An attack on it is wholly justified and I am surprised it wasn’t banned for domestic use along with creosote, a similar product with about the same culinary utility.
and even that Morrisons bar that you showed has 50% more cocoa in it than Cadbury's Dairy Milk (30% vs 20%). The general standard of chocolate in this country is appalling, although still rather better than that found in the US. But just like everything else, in a capitalist society you can buy shit cooking chocolate, or good cooking chocolate - it's up to you, or your budget.