Dessert for Republicans or Millionaire's Shortbread

I've been on a dessert kick it seems. Which is kind of funny, since before I started this blog most of the dessert prep was done by my daughters. I'm more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so I'm not sure what happened. Anyway, this is an English treat called Millionaire's Shortbread. It's essentially shortbread kicked up a notch or two. Or three. It's a layer of simple shortbread, a layer of caramel and then a layer of chocolate. It's pretty easy and quick to make.

Shortbread:
3/4 cup (170g) butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Caramel:
250ml (1 cup) Dulce de Leche
Chocolate:
6oz. semisweet baking chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350F (175F). Let the butter soften and then cream it with the sugar.

Then mix in the flour, a fork should be good for most of this, but at some point you'll need to do some kneading. Don't do too much, then the bread will be heavy. Mix in the vanilla and salt at this point.

Press the dough into a baking pan. This one is about 6"x9" but I think something a bit bigger might be better since it came out a bit thicker then I had planned. Aim for about 3/4 of an inch.

Bake at 350F (175C) for about 25 minutes. It should be lightly golden. Let it cool down for about 20 minutes until barely warm to the touch then spread the Dulce de Leche evenly of the top. If you don't know what Dulche de Leche is, it's basically sweetened condensed milk that has been heated until the sugar caramelizes. It shouldn't be too hard to find, but can be made by, well, heating a can of condensed milk over a medium fire, stirring until it turns a dark golden brown. Google it people.

Melt your chocolate for spreading atop the caramel. I'm lazy and used a microwave instead of a double boiler. Put your chocolate in a microwave save bowl and cook at 50% for about a minute and a half. Stir. Again for 45 seconds. Stir. Once more for 30 seconds. Stir. It should be perfectly melted. You can add a tablespoon of butter if you want it creamier.
Smooth the melted chocolate evenly over the Dulche de Leche.

Then put in a cool place for the chocolate to set, about 20 minutes or 5-10 in the refrigerator.

Cut into squares. Serves 1.

The shortbread is a bit too thick, but it still tastes amazing! Don't forget Sunday's Tweetup!

UPDATE!
I've given it a try and made this Gluten Free and Milk Free. It actually wasn't bad and the little kids, who are the ones who can't have gluten, loved it! For the 1 1/2 cups flour I substituted,
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup whole rice flour
1 tsp. Guar Gum

I used margarine instead of butter and a non-dairy caramel as well.
It was a bit crumbly, but tasted good. I will play around with the quantities this week and might reduce the amount of margarine, since it was a bit oily.