Slice of delight

Following on from the hot chocolate pudding challenge, today I decided to try my hand at creating caramel slices. I'm not going to promise that what I came up with is as indulgent as the real thing.But the real thing is approximately 8pp a piece. And this is 3pp. And it tastes GREAT! Making the caramel sauce is a bit of a palaver, but worth it in the end!

INGREDIENTS

Shortbread base:
140g plain flour
80g rolled oats
120g melted low fat spread
8g splenda

Mix the dry ingredients together, add the melted spread and form into a soft dough. Press into the base of a greased 9x9 inch tin and bake in an oven preheated to 180 (160' fan-assisted) for 25 minutes.

Caramel sauce:
24fld oz vanilla rice milk (alpro)
60g honey or golden syrup
1 tablespoon splenda
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons cornflour

Mix the rice milk and the honey and bring to the boil in a saucepan. Reduce flame to a simmer and leave until the liquid has reduced by about 2/3 - approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of cornflour (mix to a paste first with some of the liquid. to avoid lumps). Add the splenda. Bring back to the boil and remove from the heat to cool

Remove the shortbread from the oven and pour the sauce over the surface - you will probably only need to use half the quantity, the remainder can be frozen. Return to the oven for 10 minutes.

Chocolate topping

60g dark chocolate chips, melted in a double boiler or the microwave. When the shortbread and caramel base has cooled, spread it with the melted chocolate and put in the fridge to set.

Finally, cut into 16 squares of 3pp each.