Coconut, Citrus Slice

 

Here’s one from the hard-working days at the family Cafe. It was a permanent cabinet dweller and was always a top seller.

It’s a delish, no-bake, biscuit and coconut based, citrus slice. The base is filled with biscuit pieces, shredded coconut, zesty citrus peel and then combined with a buttery condensed milk mixture. The icing is sweet but tart, mixed together with lemon juice and zest

It’s a perfect addition to a spring afternoon tea or a garden party. Let me know if you try it. 🙂

 

INGREDIENTS

Base
1 ½ x 250 g / 8 ¾ oz packet of plain, hard, biscuits (I use Griffins Vanilla Wines)
1/3 cup mixed peel
1 ¼ cup shredded coconut
125 g / 4 ½ oz butter
1 ¼ cups / 14 oz / 395 g tin condensed milk

Icing
25 g /1 oz butter
1 small lemon (need 1 tablespoon of zest & 1 ½ tablespoons of juice from it)
1 ¾ cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)

 

Makes 12 slices

 

Notes

• Just to clarify it’s 1 ½ packets of biscuits.
• Also, I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it but unless stated otherwise I usually use hard, crunchy, plain, biscuits for slices and cheesecake bases. Here in New Zealand, Griffins Super Wines and Vanilla Wines are perfect.
• Also, I prefer to used shredded coconut as it adds more texture to the base, desiccated is so fine that it may make the base a little soggy.

 

STEP BY STEP

For this yummy slice, I use a standard sized slice tin. So, line a 27.5 cm / 10 ½ in L x 18 cm / 7 in W x 4 cm / 1 ½ in D slice tin with baking paper and lightly spray it with non-stick cooking spray.

• I always spray the tin lightly with spray before I put the paper in, it stops it from moving around on me (anything for an easier life!).

Base

Place half of the biscuits into a food processor and use the pulse setting to process them into irregular sized pieces…..some crumbs, some little pieces and larger bits of biscuit too.

• If you don’t have a food processor place the biscuits into a thick resealable bag, cover it with a tea towel and bash and roll them with a rolling pin.

Repeat with the remaining biscuits.

• This isn’t like a normal biscuit crumb base that’s only bound with butter. This has condensed milk and coconut to bind the biscuits together which allows us to have a super chunky base. Also, with this slice, if the pieces are all small the base will be soggy.

Place the biscuit pieces into a large bowl, also adding the mixed peel and the shredded coconut. Leave aside for now.

Place the 125 g / 4 ½ oz of butter into a saucepan and place it over a low heat, removing it as soon as it’s melted.

Then stir in the condensed milk until thoroughly combined.

Add the condensed milk mix to the biscuit mix and fold it all together until thoroughly combined.

Spoon the biscuit mixture into your lined tin and spread it around making sure it’s right into the corners.

Using a metal spatula, press the mix gently into the tin, making sure it’s fairly even.

• Unlike a cheesecake base that usually only has butter to help it bond, this base has a lot of ingredients to help it stick together, so it doesn’t need pressing down hard, that may cause the base to be quite wet and soggy. 

Then place the base into the fridge to set for one hour.

Icing

Zest and juice the lemon and place both into a small/medium-sized bowl.

Next, place the 25 g /1 oz butter into a little saucepan and melt it over a low heat (or melt it in the microwave(.

Add the butter along with the icing sugar to the bowl and…..

…..mix it all together.

• It’s quite thick and that’s the way it should be so it doesn’t fall off the sides of your slice when you cut it. You want it to be where it’s just able to be spread on, yet still smooth. If it’s so thick that you seem sure you won’t be able to spread it on at all, add a tiny bit of boiling water at a time until you feel it’s just spreadable.

Spoon it onto the base and….

…..using a palette knife spread it around as evenly as possible.

• Then I like to make a pattern. 🙂

Return it to the fridge for a further hour.

• The icing will set fast, this extra time is for the base to continue to set.

Once set use a sharp knife to slice it into however many pieces you like.

• I have always cut it through the centre lengthways. Then I cut each of those long rectangles into 3 (giving me 6 pieces) and then I cut each of those into triangles (giving me 12 pieces in total).

Enjoy!

It’s so good! 🙂

Keepin’ it fresh – Store it, well wrapped or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

 

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