Florrie's Chocolate and Toffee Squares

Makes 24 large or 5 dozen small

Source: Simply Delicious (Darina Allen) Ireland

These biscuits, sometimes called Millionaires Squares, are a fiddle to make (that’s Irish for “they are a bit complicated to make”) , but so many people like them that it is worth the trouble. Get the maximum flavor for your effort by making them with butter and best quality chocolate.

Pastry Base:

2½

cups

flour

12

ounces

340

grams

½

cup

sugar (caster)

4

ounces

110

grams

1

cup

butter

8

ounces

225

grams

Nuts:

6

oz

pecans, toasted and chopped

1½

cups

250

grams

Toffee Filling:

½

cup

butter

4

ounces

115

grams

1

cup

granulated sugar

8

ounces

225

grams

4

Tbs

corn syrup (golden syrup)

1/4

cup

60

ml

1

tin

Sweetened Condensed Milk (full cream*)

14

ounces

400

grams

Chocolate Top:

8

oz

Swiss or Belgium chocolate (dark)
(or semisweet chocolate chips)

225

grams

Preheat the oven to 350°F [180°C].
Line pan 10” x 15” [25 cm x 38 cm] with foil.

Pastry:

Mix the flour with the sugar, rub in the butter and work until the mixture comes together.
Alternatively, blend the ingredients in a food processor.
Press the mixture evenly into the prepared tin.
Prick the base with a fork.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden in color and fully cooked.
Distribute chopped nuts evenly over pastry.

Filling:

While the pastry is baking, prepare the toffee filling:
Melt the butter over a low heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan.
Add the sugar, golden syrup and lastly the condensed milk; stir after each addition and continue to stir over a low heat for the next 20 minutes. The toffee burns very easily so don't stop stirring.
Cook to (240°F) [115°C]. The toffee should be golden brown.
You can test by dropping a little blob into a bowl of cold water. A firm ball of toffee indicates a firm toffee.
If it's still a little soft, continue to cook for a few more minutes but be careful - if it gets too hard it will pull your teeth out later!
Pour the toffee evenly over the nuts and pastry and bake until it bubbles all over (about 5-10 minutes).
Remove from oven and let cool.

Topping:

Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave or in double boiler, then spread evenly over the toffee. Decorate immediately with a fork to give a wavy pattern. Florries

Cut into small squares or fingers when the chocolate is set.

I usually cut them into small (about 1” by 1”) squares as they are very rich.

They freeze beautifully and can be defrosted in 20 minutes. Freezing will maintain the nice crispy pastry base, so I only leave out as many as will be eaten in a day.

Notes:

The original recipe calls for 1 cup (2 cubes) of butter in the toffee filling. Once when making it, about 1/2 cup of butter separated out and could not be stirred back in, so since then I have used only 1/2 cup, with no appreciable difference in taste or texture.

* May 2008 I tried using non-fat sweetened condensed milk and it turned out great.

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