1. Beat the sugar, vanilla extract and butter together, until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl. Combine the mixture together into a dough, being careful not to overwork it. Wrap in cling film or sandwich bag and chill for an hour or two in the fridge
2. Remove the dough from the fridge and lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin
3. Roll out the dough on to a sheet of non-stick parchment paper to a thickness of 0.5cm. Depending on how sticky the dough is, you may need to dust the dough with a mix of flour and cocoa powder. Using a 9cm round cutter, cut out about 6 circles from the rolled out dough and carefully press each circle into the muffin holes with your fingers. Pull up the trimmings and re-roll and repeat the process until all the muffin holes are filled. Finally use a fork to prick holes into the bases of the dough
4. Chill the dough in the tin for about 15 minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. When ready, bake the shortbread bases for approx 15-20 minutes. The dough will puff up as it bakes, so I’d recommend taking the tin out of the oven a few times during the baking time and carefully with your fingers press the dough back down into the base and sides of the muffin holes
5. Once baked, leave the shortbread to cool in the tin, before carefully removing them with the help of a knife. After removing the cases, either place back in the tin, or on to a board or tray ready to fill with the caramel
6. To make the caramel, weigh the sugar and cream into a small/medium saucepan using a set of digital scales, if you have them to help save on the washing up! Place the pan over a medium heat and gently cook and stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved. Continue to heat the caramel, stirring as it bubbles, until everything is fully combined and you have a thick toffee sauce
7. Carefully pour and divide the caramel into your shortbread bases
8. Leave to set in the fridge, while you prepare the chocolate topping
9. Melt the chocolate in a microwave or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. When melted, use a spoon to transfer and divide over the set caramel in the shortbread bases. Once all the pies are covered in chocolate sprinkle one half of their surface with the copper crunch and leave to set. Place the bowl with the leftover chocolate in, in the fridge to set. This will be used later to create your chocolate shavings!
10. Once the chocolate on top of the pies and in the bowl has set, lightly whip the cream and transfer into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Carefully pipe three magnolia shaped stars in a cluster on the surface of the pies, not covered with copper crunch. Next remove the chocolate lined bowl from the fridge, and with a teaspoon scrape away chocolate shavings from the base and sides of the bowl. Finally sprinkle lightly on top of the piped cream magnolias and serve
