Directions

Filling

1Place the milk, cream and both chocolates in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the chocolate has melted and the mixture just comes to a boil.

2Place the brown sugar, caster sugar, cornflour, whiskey and egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook, whisking over medium heat, until the mixture comes to the boil. Continue whisking for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Whisk the mixture again, pour and refrigerate overnight (or until firm).

Shortbread

1Put the almonds and half of the flour in a food processor and blend until a coarse meal forms and no large pieces of almond remain. Pulse in the remaining flour and the salts.

2In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds. Add the sugar and mix on low speed to incorporate. Increase the speed to medium and cream the butter mixture until it is aerated and looks like frosting, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Put the yolks in a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.

3On medium speed, add the yolks, one at a time, and mix until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds for each yolk. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogenous.

4Add the nut-flour mixture all at once and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 1 minute. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.

5Stretch two sheets of plastic wrap on a work surface. Divide the dough in half and place each half on a piece of the plastic wrap. Pat each half into a rectangle, wrap tightly, and regenerate until chilled throughout, at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.

6Let the dough halves sit at room temperature until the dough has warmed up some but is still cool to touch, 15 to 20 minutes. Put a sheet of parchment paper the same dimensions as a half sheet pan on the work surface and dust lightly with flour. Put one dough half on top.

7Using a rolling pin, roll the dough half into a rectangle approximately 11 to 13 inches and 1/4 inch thick or slightly under. If the edges become uneven, push a bench scraper against the dough to straighten out the sides. To keep the dough from sticking to the parchment paper, dust the top with flour, cover with another piece of parchment paper, and, sandwiching the dough between both sheet of parchment paper, flip the dough and paper over. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper and continue to roll.

8Ease the dough and parchment onto a half sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough half and stack it on top. Cover with a piece of parchment paper and refrigerate the layers until firm, at least 30 minutes.

9Heat the over to 350*F. Line a couple of half sheet pans with parchment paper. Let the dough sit at a room temperature for up to 10 minutes. Invert the dough onto a work surface and peel off the top sheet of parchment paper. Roll a dough docker over the dough or pierce it numerous times with a fork. Using a 1 3/4 by 21/2 inch rectangular cutter, punch out the cookies. Reroll the dough trimmings chill and cut out more cookies. Put the shortbread on the prepared sheet pans, evenly spacing up to 16 cookies per pan. Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the cookies feel firm and hold their shape when touched, 3 to 5 minutes more. Let the cookies cool completely on the sheet pans. Repeat with the remaining pan.