Jam and Coconut Slice

By Lee Price on June 26, 2012 in Food

Life’s simple pleasures – for me that is a nice cup of tea and something delicious to go with it. If I had to choose between cake, biscuits or slice (hey, it might come down to that someday) I would definitely have to go with the slice. Cakey bottom, biscuity top – it’s got it all.

Funnily enough, whenever I make slice people assume I’m some sort of secret CWA type who owns a lot of aprons (I only have three, honestly) – but trust me on this, they are very simple to bake.

Use any jam you have on hand, or even a combination. Strawberry is great but apricot jam and even lime marmalade will not let you down. Or why not use lemon curd and take it to another level?

This is a great go-to recipe for a bake sale, a picnic, morning tea, or as a special lunch box treat for the kids. Or you can pop it into a cute tin and tie it up with a bow for a lovely gift for that someone special.

Ingredients

Base
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
125g butter, melted
1 cup strawberry jam (or replace with your own favourite jam)

Topping
2 cups desiccated coconut
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, whisked

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a 16cm x 26cm slab pan with non-stick baking paper. Place the flour, sugar and butter into a mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Pour into the tin and spread evenly over the base.

2. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden on the top. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Spread the jam evenly across the cooled cake.

3. Now for the topping. Mix together the coconut, sugar and eggs. Spread evenly over the jam, roughing up the top so that it gets nice and crispy. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top with a few browned pieces of coconut.

4. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice into squares and eat immediately with a cup of tea. This slice will keep well in an airtight container for up to one week. Trust me though, it won’t last that long!

Have you got a great recipe that you would like to share? Send it through to operationjamjar@y7mail.com and you could see it in a future issue of The Beast. For more recipes and thrifty cooking ideas visit operationjamjar.blogspot.com