Tamarind Millionaire’s Shortbread

The sourness of tamarind breathes new life into the classic millionaire’s shortbread, a bar cookie of layered shortbread, caramel and chocolate (also known as caramel slice in Australia) that has been a fixture in home cooks’ kitchens since 1970, when the recipe was first published in the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine.

Tamarind adds a gloriously sharp acidic profile to balance the rich caramel layer of this version of the afternoon treat, topped with contrasting bittersweet chocolate and a coconutty shortbread cookie base (food writer Rosie Birkett first pioneered this wonderful flavor combination).

If you’re struggling to find room in the fridge to set the final chocolate layer, simply leave it to set on the countertop for 2 hours instead. When serving up, keep a clean, damp cloth handy to wipe your knife between cuts for perfect, crumb-free and crack-free chocolate precision.

I use an 8-inch square pan for this, but feel free to adapt the pan size as necessary, adjusting the cooking time slightly if you need to (a bigger pan will need less cooking time).

This recipe was excerpted from ‘A Splash of Soy’ by Lara Lee. Buy the full book on Amazon.