Caramel Slice (also called Caramel Slice or Millionaire's Shortbread) is Australia's most ubiquitous café slice — a buttery shortbread base, a thick layer of soft golden caramel, and a crisp chocolate topping. Found in every bakery, café, and school lunchbox across Australia, it is the national sweet slice, the companion to every cup of coffee.
Caramel Slice is an Australian café and baking institution, though versions exist in the UK (as Millionaire's Shortbread) and elsewhere. The Australian version is distinguished by its thick, soft caramel layer (made with sweetened condensed milk, an Australian pantry staple) and a firm dark chocolate topping that cracks when bitten. It appears in virtually every Australian bakery, café, and school fundraiser cookbook. The use of condensed milk for the caramel is the Australian (and NZ) signature — it produces a smoother, creamier caramel than the British version.
A square of three layers: buttery, crumbly shortbread at the bottom; soft, sweet, golden caramel in the middle; a thin crack of dark chocolate on top. Bite through all three — the crunch of the chocolate, the chew of the caramel, the crumble of the base. Dip it in coffee. It is the most Australian café slice there is.
The shortbread base is baked first (20 minutes) until pale gold. The caramel layer is made by boiling condensed milk (or butter, brown sugar, and condensed milk) until it turns golden and thick — it must be soft enough to bite but firm enough to hold its shape. The chocolate topping is melted dark chocolate poured over the set caramel, then chilled until firm — it should crack when bitten, not be soft.
Variations
Some use milk chocolate on top; some add sea salt to the caramel; some add coconut to the base.
On the Palate
Where Caramel Slice sits in the Australian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
7 steps · 40 min active + 50 min waiting
- 13 min
Preheat oven to 180°C; line a 20x30-cm tin.
- 220 min
Make base: rub 200 g flour, 100 g butter, 50 g sugar to crumbs; press into the tin; bake 20 minutes until pale gold; cool.
Watch outPull the base at just pale gold — it firms as it cools, and baking it darker leaves the shortbread dry.
- 38 min
Make caramel: melt 100 g butter, 100 g brown sugar, and 1 can (400 g) sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan; cook, stirring, 8 minutes until thick and golden.
Watch outCook the caramel until it turns golden and thickens enough to hold a trail off the spoon — stir constantly or it catches and scorches on the bottom.
- 4120 min
Pour the caramel over the cooled base; chill 2 hours.
- 55 min
Melt 200 g dark chocolate; pour over the set caramel; tilt to spread evenly.
Watch outPour the chocolate over caramel that's fully chilled and set — warm caramel and the layers slide and marble together.
- 660 min
Chill 1 hour until the chocolate is set.
- 72 min
Cut into squares with a hot knife.
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