Coconut Slice

Recipe from 100 Favourite Muffins and Slices by Simon and Alison Holst
Images by Yasmin

This is recently my most favourite slice. It is very cheap to make, tastes fantastic and only requires everyday ingredients in a normal household. The only downside is that personally I have not yet mastered how to make this slice without it being a little bit messy to eat. My HINT is: Don't spread too much jam on the base - it is absorbed and makes it soggy and sloppy. Also NOTE: this slice is very hard to cut up into slices - it splits easily - edge pieces are the hardest to cut.

                                                                                      

Ingredients:

Pastry:                                                                                                

• 1 cup plain flour                                             
• 75g cold butter                               
• about ¼ cup cold water                                                                     

Filling:

• 1/2 cup raspberry jam
• about 1/2 cup currants or sultanas

Topping:

• 175g butter                                     
• 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla flavouring
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups coconut                                                                                                                        

Method: 

Heat oven to 220°C  (210°C fanbake). Spray 23cm square pan with non-stick pan. For pastry, put flour and cubed butter in the food processor, then process in bursts, while adding water in a slow stream. Refrigerate dough 5-10 minutes while you mix the topping. For topping, soften but do not melt the butter. In the unwashed food processor or bowl, mix butter with the sugar, vanilla and eggs, then mix the coconut. Roll out pastry to cover the base and sides of the pan. Spread it with jam and dried fruit.

Drop the topping over it in blobs (Topping will spread during cooking). Bake for 10-15 minutes, then turn down to180°C (170°C fanbake) and cook for 15-30 minutes or until the topping has browned evenly, and the centre feels firm.

Serve:

Serve warm for dessert with whipped cream or ice-cream, or cool completely before cutting into pieces of the desired size. Store in a shallow container between layers of paper, in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.