Lemon Biscuit Slice

Right now, I should be packing for my trip, but I felt like sharing this recipe with you instead.

I know I’ve blogged a lot about slices on After Taste in the past so I really don’t need to go into just how much I appreciate a good piece of old-fashioned slice.

But while slices are simple in theory, countless cafes and bakeries just can’t seem to nail it. The base is often terribly crumbly, or dry and the all-important icing-to-base ratio is often out. So your best bet for a tasty wee morsel is generally one you just make, yourself, at home.

From memory this uncooked lemon biscuit slice is a total crowd pleaser. It is quite moist, with a coconutty base and a soft, sweet lemon icing. It is really simple to make and requires absolutely no baking!

Tell me, what is your favourite slice recipe?

Lemon Biscuit Slice
Makes 24 pieces

Base:

• 250 grams wine biscuits
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• Finely grated zest of 1-2 lemons
• 120 grams butter
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Lemon icing:

• 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 40g butter, melted
• Juice of 1 lemon

Grease and line a 17 x 27cm slice tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on all sides. Place biscuits in a food processor and process to form fine crumbs.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, then combine with coconut and lemon rind. Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat to melt. Stir in condensed milk. Pour melted mixture over the dry ingredients. Stir to combine well.

Press biscuit mixture into prepared tin. Refrigerate for one hour or until firm. When set, ice with lemon icing. To make lemon icing, place the icing sugar in a bowl. Add melted butter and lemon juice and beat until smooth.

New Zealand Lolly Log Cake

Lolly cake or lolly log (as some might know it) in New Zealand is a national institution. It is such a kiwi favourite.

It is found absolutely everywhere here and I would go as far as saying it even makes the  list of my favourite sweet treats. This is the type of food item you’d probably expect to see in every New Zealand bakery, corner dairy, or even your local service station, nationwide. I almost think it is unique to New Zealand as  I have yet to find any reference to its existence that can’t be traced back to a New Zealander’s blog.

It is an uncooked recipe and uses two main ingredients: biscuits and lollies – what could be better?! The mixture is usually pressed into a log shape and rolled in coconut, and then refrigerated until set and sliced up. Sadly I can’t credit anything more than the back of a packet of Pascall Fruit Puff’s for this delightful recipe. Enjoy!

New Zealand Lolly Log Cake
Makes 15 slices

• 1 packet malt biscuits, crumbs
• 1 packet fruit puffs or eskimos
• 100 grams butter
• 1/2 can condensed milk
• Coconut

Warm the butter and the condensed milk in the microwave.  Add the biscuit crumbs and either a packet of eskimos or fruit puffs (cut into pieces).  Stir mixture well.  Form the mixture into a log shape or into small balls.  Roll in Coconut.  Put into the fridge for approximately 4 hours.  Once set, cut the log into slices and serve.

Whittaker’s White Chocolate Oreo Truffles

Okay, correct me if I’m wrong but is there *anything* better than oreo biscuits and cream cheese? ……………….hello?

Er, no. Didn’t think so.

The following recipe is the stuff that dreams are made of. Oreo cookie crumbs blended with cream cheese and covered with a white chocolate shell. They really are the very best-tasting truffles in the world…

The first time I ever tried one of these; my mouth was watering for more.  I can assure you they are one of the yummiest things ever and so simple to make because there is absolutely no baking involved. Better yet, you only need three ingredients.

Happy truffle making!

Whittaker’s White Chocolate Oreo Truffles
Makes approximately 15 truffles

• 250 grams cream cheese
• 2 packets Oreo cookies
• 1 block Whittaker’s White Chocolate
• Optional – Dark Sante bar to drizzle

Crush the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor and place in medium bowl. If you don’t own a food processor, you can just as easily crush them in a plastic bag. Add the cream cheese and mix until well blended. Roll truffle mixture into approximately 15 balls and place on a baking tray lined with paper. Refrigerate until firm, for about 1 hour.

Remove the balls from the fridge. Break up the block of white chocolate and melt in the microwave until smooth. Dip balls in chocolate and place on  a clean sheet of baking paper. If you like, you can  drizzle with a bit of melted dark chocolate to decorate.

Return truffles to the refrigerator and leave until firm and chocolate has set. Store the truffles, covered, until needed. Believe me they won’t last long – you have been warned.

This is also my entry for Sweet New Zealand. May is hosted by Jemma at Time for a Little Something. Head along to her page and check out all the entries at the end of the month.

Christmas Fudge

I’ve never been that successful at making fudge. Not proper fudge anyway. I can bustle up a biscuit-based uncooked fudge slice any day but quite frankly, I lack the patience to stir and stir and stir and stirrrr the darn pot to avoid the sugary goodness getting burnt on the bottom….zzZZZ. I usually avoid making fudge/toffee. Disaster.

Recently I came across a fudge recipe in Jo Seagar’s The Cook School Recipes called Fabulous Fudge. I have had the page post-it noted for a while now and thought I would try it and see just how fabulous this fudge was. If you like a smooth and creamy fudge that is not all sugary and hard, and easy to cut into portions without crumbling, then this is the one!

Christmas Fudge

• 2 x 400 gram cans of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups of brown sugar, firmly packed
• 250 grams of butter
• 100 ml liquid glucose syrup
• 3 tablespoons golden syrup
• 400 grams milk chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Spray and line with non stick baking paper, a 20 x 30 cm, quite deep ( at least 4 cm ) tin, or two smaller tins.

Place all ingredients, except the chocolate and vanilla, in a large heavy based saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and boil gently until it becomes very thick and changes colour to a dark caramel brown paper shade – about 6 minutes, to the soft ball stage. Remove from heat and stand until the bubbles subside. Stir in the chocolate and vanilla until melted and smooth.

Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Cool to room temperature ( about 3 hours ) then refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 weeks – if you’re lucky!!!!!

This is an entry into Sweet New Zealand for December. This time it is hosted by Bron Marshall. Check out all the delicious entries!

Kahlua and Mars Bar Cheesecake

My favourite dessert is Cheesecake. Hands down.

 In fact, there are several key (or so I’m told) desserts I haven’t ever tried because cheesecake, if an option, is my dessert of choice.

The hoarding of this recipe all started with a delightful slice of Kahlua and Mars Bar Cheesecake at Lone Star one evening. I have wanted to recreate it ever since, it was that good! After a google or three I couldn’t find a similar recipe anywhere. I did however come across a recipe for a Crunchie Bar Cheesecake. I used this recipe and swapped the Crunchies Bar for a lot of Mars Bar and a dash (or more) of Kahlua! I have been making my own Kahlua and Mars Bar Cheesecake for years now and have passed this recipe on time and time again.

There isn’t too much more to be said about this recipe except that it is absolutely mindblowingly DELICIOUS and you should all try it!

Kahlua and Mars Bar Cheesecake

• 1 x 250 gram packet plain sweet biscuits
• 150 grams of butter, melted
• 3 teaspoons of gelatine
• 1/4 cup water
• 375 grams of cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup of caster sugar
• 1 x 300 ml thickened cream
• 3 x 60 gram mars bars, chopped
• 4-5 capfuls of Kahlua

Grease a 24 cm springform tin (the deeper the tin the better!) and set aside. Process biscuits until crushed, add butter, process until just combined. Before you press biscuit mixture over the base I like to add 1/2 a cup of chocolate chips to the mix just to give the base a bit of flavour and texture. This is entirely optional! Press the base over the tin evenly, cover and refridgerate for approximately one hour.

Sprinkle gelatine over water in a cup. Stand cup in a pan of simmer water, stir until dissolved. Cool. Beat cream cheese, vanilla essence and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat cream in a seperate bowl until soft peaks form
Stir in gelatine mixture into cheese mixture with Mars Bars, fold in cream and Kahlua.
Pour mixture over base in tin, Cover and refridgerate until set.

This cheesecake stands pretty great on its own but if you like, you could serve with a spoonful of natural yoghurt and a small handful of berries. I often crumble a Cadbury Flake bar (or similar) over the top just before serving. Enjoy!

I have decided to enter this into Sweet New Zealand. This month is hosted by Mairi at Toast. Head along to her blog and check out all the entries for November! Well worth it.

Caramel Crunchy Slice

This square is delicious and very quick and easy to make. Like my other post, this is not your typical caramel slice. It is uncooked (so easy!) and does not use biscuits in the base, but a combination of cornflakes and coconut. Mmmm, salivating already.

I recently worked out that this recipe came from one of those collaborative community cookbooks where well-known people nominate their favourite recipe. This one came from the mayor of Palmerston North, at the time it was published.

Caramel Crunchy Square

For the base:

• 250 grams of Kremelta
• 3 tablespoons of cocoa
• 1 cup of coconut
• 3 cups of cornflakes
• 1 cup of icing sugar
• Vanilla

For the caramel:

• ½ a cup of brown sugar
• ½ a can of condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of golden syrup

Mix all the dry ingredients together and mix well, add the melted Kremelta. Mix until well combined. Grease and line a square baking tin and press half the mixture into the bottom. Press down with a glass until very compact. Put the tin into the fridge to set.

Meanwhile melt together all ingredients to make the caramel. Cook and stir gently for 4-5 minutes. Pour over the set mixture and then cover with other half of the base mixture. Chill slice and cut into squares when set.

Caramello Balls

Ah, the classic classy brandy ball. Yum! Although I have quite the soft spot for these, lately I have come across a ball of another kind. The one and only caramello balls! I thought I should credit slash ask my friend before blogging about this recipe. So I did, yesterday, only to find…she pinched it from the fabulous Griffin’s :-)……turns out they have quite a few different recipes and each one illustrated with the type of biscuit featured in the recipe. Nice.

So here is a treat for the weekend! By the time you read this, RWC fever should be well underway in the capital. I, thankfully, have escaped to the Manawatu for the weekend.

Thank you to my friend Steph for this recipe!

Caramello Balls

• 100g butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 a tin of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups finely crushed biscuits
• 1 block caramello chocolate
• Coconut to roll balls in

Heat a large saucepan on a medium heat. Melt the butter, brown sugar, condensed milk, cocoa and vanilla essence. When this has melted, add the crushed biscuits and leave to cool. I left my mixture for about 15 minutes or so. When cooled, wet your fingers and roll a full teaspoon of mixture around a square of caramello chocolate. Roll the balls in coconut. I think you could use any kind of chocolate in the middle, particularly types with a runny centre. I am yet to try with my favourite chocolate of all time: Whittaker’s Ghana Peppermint. I will be sure to update this post when I do!

Mum’s Apricot Fudge

Fudge is a delicious combination of sugar, butter, milk and flavours like chocolate, vanilla, passion fruit, the list never ends! The tricky part of making fudge is combining these items and cooking them properly.

When it comes to making fudge, I’m not really interested. Let’s be honest here, I kind of lack patience. All that stirring and time spent bent over the stovetop waiting and watching as sugar seems to take foreverrrrr to dissolve.

All that said some people make wonderful fudge! I envy places like a wee shop in Palmerston North called Munchkins. They make all sorts of flavours like cookies and cream, Baileys Irish crème, passionfruit (my favourite) and many others. Do check them out – they are definitely worth a visit next time you’re visiting the Manawatu. Chocoholics rejoice! Look at me; I’m doing a better job of selling the store out of fudge than I am blogging about my delights.

Now we’ve got fudge on the radar, I think apricots are hugely underrated and what a great way to use them. The following recipe is a favourite of mine or my mother’s. Perfect for gifts and much simpler time wise than most fudge recipes.

I have since discovered you can now purchase Munchkins fudge online. Go on, I dare you. You don’t even have to leave the house!

Have a good weekend and enjoy the recipe!

Mum’s Apricot Fudge

• 1 packet crushed biscuits
• 75g brown sugar
• 500g apricots, chopped
• 200g butter
• ½ a can of condensed milk
• Coconut to sprinkle

I recommend using quite a large saucepan for this recipe, just to give you a bit of stirring room! Heat pot over a medium heat and melt the butter, brown sugar and the condensed milk. Chop up the apricots into bite-sized pieces and add to the cooked mixture. Add the crushed biscuits and mix like you’ve never mixed before. Fudge tends to get very thick very quick and you want to try and get this mixture as smooth as you can.

Line a baking tin with greaseproof cooking paper and press the mixture firmly into the tin. Sprinkle with the coconut. I have always thought apricots go really nicely with nuts of most kinds so if you wanted to make this item slightly more nutritious, you could add nuts in with the apricots.

Put the tin into the fridge to set. Fudge doesn’t generally take very long to go hard so no need to make this one well in advance. Fudge also travels particularly well so makes an excellent homemade gift!