Salted Cashew & Caramel Bars

These are lots of things - especially things you wouldn't expect. They are bursting with flavours and textures.

Crunchy, chewy, sweet, salty and nutty. One will NEVER be enough !

I made these last week.... and there are none left ! In my defense, I was very good and did only have one... but several people had rather more. You know who you are ..... :-P

This recipe originated from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book - but I've changed it somewhat to make it mine. It's a tray bake and very easy. Ideal for cake sales or charity events as not only is it seriously tasty - but you can prepare a batch and chop it into portions. It still looks lovely.

My original portions as per photo above were too big - I'd recommend halving them. One lasagne / tray bake silicone mould cut into 12 squares - but this would have been far better as 24 finger sized bars. It also yeilded 4 x mini loaf mould sized bars (each of which I cut into two squares to match the size of the other ones)

The only thing I can fault it on is that my base was too thick. Next time, I'd use 2 x lasagne / tray bake moulds and up the topping by 25%.

Recipe

Base :

250g salted butter
1/2 cup dark brown soft
1/2 cup caster sugar

2.1/2 cups plain flour

cream butter and sugars. Add in flour until a soft dough has just formed. Press into your tins / trays and prick all over with a fork. If using silicone trays - no need to oil or grease at all. If traditional tins, line with greaseproof paper and grease.

Cook at 180deg C for about 30mins if using 2 x silicone lasagne tins - or 40 mins if using one and 4 x mini loaf moulds as I did. The base should just be starting to colour when it's ready.

Topping

200g milk chocolate

1 cup golden syrup

6 princess (or other brand) marshmallows

6 tablespoons of double cream

2.1/2 of salted cashews - I used Sainsbury's budget range (all 1/2's)

Add all the items except the nuts to a saucepan on a low heat. Melt the ingreditents together, stirring all the time. 

 As soon as it gets to simmering point, take it off the heat and pour into the prepared trays on top of the hot base. Scatter the nuts on top.

Return to the oven for approx 5 mins.

Allow to cool in the tin or tray before turning out and chopping into bars. ( I made mine in the evening and popped in the fridge when cool to do the chopping up in the morning !)

Sarah-Jane Nash, http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ - May 2010