Cardamom millionaires with gram shortbread

I’ve been dreaming about making the perfect wholefood millionaires shortbread for years – many recipes skip the white-sugar-based caramel and the white flour in favour of an almond biscuit base but this ends up being too crumbly or too crisp, and the whole thing is usually too sweet. This is a millionaire recipe that makes you pay attention – from the medley of flavours to the sublime texture, with a hit of cardamom to add pungency and aid digestion. The deep, nutty and slightly bitter flavour is thanks to the toasted gram flour (also known as besan or chickpea flour), which creates the perfect biscuit-y base, contrasting beautifully with the sweet date layer and rich dark chocolate. Serve these cool, or at room temperature for melt-in-the-mouth chocolate. These are super-rich and sweet, so you can cut down on the jaggery and dates a little if you like. The gram shortbread base is also delicious by itself or as a base for the Saffron Cardamom Cheesecake (see here). Yum!

Makes 16

150g dark chocolate, 70–80% cocoa content

l tbsp ghee

FOR THE CARAMEL LAYER

18 soft pitted dates or 18 dried, pitted dates (290g), soaked in just enough hot water to cover for 30 minutes

4 tbsp ghee

½ tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp of water (use the soaking water if using dried dates)

FOR THE GRAM SHORTBREAD

150g (¼ cup) gram flour seeds of 6 cardamom pods, ground

100g (½ cup) jaggery, chopped finely, or coconut sugar

100g (½ cup) ghee or butter

pinch of sea salt

1 Line an 18cm (7in) square tin with baking parchment. To make the gram shortbread, toast the gram flour for 15 minutes in a dry heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat, stirring frequently to ensure even toasting and to keep the flour from burning. At the end of this process the flour should be fragrant and a few shades darker.

2 Stir in the cardamom, jaggery, ghee and salt, stirring constantly to ensure that the ghee and jaggery melt and the mixture is as lump-free as possible. It will be liquid-like at first, but keep cooking for 3–4 minutes, until the mixture is thick and smooth. Ghee is absorbed quickly and jaggery doesn’t melt as easily, so you won’t get a thick, smooth mixture, but this is fine as long as it’s well combined.

3 Spread the mixture into the lined tin, pressing flat and evenly into all four corners with the back of a metal spoon. Transfer to the fridge and allow the mixture to chill for about an hour.

4 Meanwhile, blend the pitted dates with the ghee, vanilla and the water, until as smooth as possible, stopping to scrape down the sides a few times. Spread on top of the chilled base and put back into the fridge to set for a further hour.

5 Melt two-thirds of the chocolate slowly in a bain-marie, stirring frequently until fully melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the final third of the chocolate and allow to melt in the residual heat (this is a way of tempering chocolate without a thermometer, to avoid the ‘white bloom’ that can appear). Stir in the ghee and pour the melted chocolate over the date layer.

6 Place the tin in the fridge and allow to set for 20–30 minutes. Once set, lift out using the baking parchment to help, then place on a cutting board. Using a large sharp knife, slice into sixteen squares. (You can wipe the knife between each cut with paper towel to avoid getting crumbs on the squares).

7 Store in a container in the fridge for up to 3 days, but bring back to room temperature before eating.

TIP

•

If you are using very soft, plump dates, which are easily blendable, do not soak them or add water to the blender at step 4 or your caramel layer might be too runny. You can always add 1 tablespoon of hot water to get the blender going.