ANZAC Caramel Slice

Ingredients 
Shortcake Base 
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup sugar
100g butter, melted

Topping
¼ cup sugar
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup threaded desiccated coconut (or use regular)
¼ cup slivered almonds
50g butter, melted

380g can Highlander Caramel Dessert filling

Method 
1. Preheat oven to 180 °C. Combine all the base ingredients. Press into a baking paper lined square cake tin (20.5 x 20.5 x 4.5cm). Bake for 15–20 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
2. To make the topping put the sugar, rolled oats, coconut and slivered almonds into a mixing bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Set aside.
3. Beat the caramel dessert filling until smooth. Spread over the shortcake base. Sprinkle over the topping. Return slice to the oven and cook a further 25 minutes, until the top is golden. Cool in the tin.
Slice into pieces to serve.

The was a recipe promoted on the Food in a Minute website.
It is rather nice although I would say so, being rather partial to caramel!

Using a can of caramel filling instead of making your own from scratch was certainly convenient. I did find the amount of the topping meant that it didn't all "stick" to the caramel so I would probably make slightly less. I also found the base quite hard, so may not cook it for the full 20 minutes next time.

Chocolate, Honey & Nut Slice

Base

170g Butter, softened 
2/3 cup Sugar 
½ tsp Vanilla Essence 
1¾ cups Flour 
¼ cup Cocoa 
1 tsp Baking Powder 1

Topping
100g Butter 
½ cup each: Sugar, Honey 
2 cups Mixed Nuts 
150g dark or milk Chocolate, chopped

Method 
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an 18cm x 28cm baking pan with baking paper. 
To make the base: cream butter and sugar with an electric beater until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and beat again. Sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix until evenly combined. Press into the base of the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes. 

To make the topping: melt the butter, sugar and honey together in a saucepan over a low heat. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. 

Sprinkle the nuts and chocolate over the hot base. Pour over the honey mixture. 

Reduce the oven temperature to 150ºC and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Leave to cool in the pan. Cut into small pieces to serve. 

For a chocolate pecan version, replace the mixed nuts with pecans. 

 Courtesy of Food Magazine. Recipe by Sandra Kinniburgh.

This recipe came recently in a Countdown catalog at Easter.
As I was having family come to visit I wanted to make some goodies for nibbles and afternoon tea.
I thought I would try this before filing it away in the large plastic bag!.

It was a recipe that required a few different steps and to be honest was not really yummy although Carl seemed to munch on a few slices. The honey taste was strong so it may have been the honey I used. It was from some friends who have their own bees so no particular brand of flavour. I think I would use the darkest type of chocolate too to give it a darker colour and flavour so to speak if I was to make it again.

Fruit Slice

125 gr Butter

1 cup White Sugar

1 cup Fruit Mix

1 ½ cups Self-Raising Flour

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

2 Tbsp White Sugar

Melt butter, then add sugar.

Add Fruit mix, self-raising flour, vanilla essence and beaten eggs.

Mix together.

Place in s sponge roll tin lined with baking paper.

Mix cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle over the top before placing in the oven.

Bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes.

This can be eaten hot with custard as a dessert or cold as a cake.

 

This is a recipe form a “Bin Inn Barrel Talk – Issue 38” (about 2004)

At first I had to read the recipe through and found the reason why there were two lots of sugar.

This is a fruit slice with a cinnamon sugar topping.

It’s a recipe style I like as it just uses melted butter and it’s all mixed up in the one bowl.

I did however add the flour at the end mixing all the wet ingredients with the sugar and fruit. This is an almost pourable mix so it just needs spreading in the tin.

I found it easier to mix the second amount of sugar and cinnamon together and then sprinkle over the cake with my hands so that I could gauge and even coverage.

I enjoyed this with ice cream but it would be equally nice with custard as mentioned in the recipe of maybe whipped cream or yogurt if you wanted a healthier option.

I will definitely be making this again but probably in a slightly smaller tin so it’s a little thicker.

Autumn Fingers

Ingredients

½ cup     flour                    70g

½ cup     coconut               45g

1 cup      rolled oats           100g

2 oz        walnuts                60g

Pinch      salt                        pinch

½ cup     brown sugar       100g

¼ cup     sugar                    50g

4oz         butter                   115g

2 tsp       golden syrup       30g

½ tsp      baking soda        ½ tsp

½ tsp      vanilla essence   ½ tsp

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a shallow 12 x 8in/30 x21 cm tin with baking paper, or grease it lightly. Chop the walnuts.

1.      Combine the flour, coconut, rolled oats, walnuts and salt in a large bowl. Add the sugars and mix well.

2.      Put the butter, golden syrup and sifted baking soda in a saucepan and melt gently together over a medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to froth. Pour it onto the dry ingredients and add the vanilla essence.

3.      Stir until everything is combined and press the mixture evenly into the prepared tin and bake for 15-20 minutes until it is golden brown, rotating the tin after 10 minutes. Try not to overcook it.

4.      Cut into bars while hot, pressing the edges gently back down if they roughen. Cool in the tin and store airtight. Makes 24

This was served at a group I went to for supper and I loved it so I asked for the recipe. It has a sweet, nutty, chew, ANZAC biscuit taste. It is from the book A Second Helping by Alexa Johnston, a sequel to her first book, Ladies a Plate.

I followed the instructions as it was written adding the vanilla essence into the melted mixture before I poured it all into the dry ingredients..
I baked it for the full 20 minutes but my oven is a bit hot so it was slightly over cooked. I will probably try it just for 15 minutes next time giving it a bit more if needed.

I will be keeping this one and maybe even buying the book and her first one!

Ginger Fruit Bars

1 tablespoon golden syrup

3 tablespoons First Choice Spread

¼ cup caster sugar

¼ cup boiling water

3 First Choice Wheat Biscuits, crushed

1 cup First Choice Self Raising Flour

1 cup coconut

1 cup chopped pitted dates

½ cup finely chopped preserved ginger

½ cup chopped walnuts

Place syrup, spread, sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat (or in the microwave) and melt ingredients.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well

Press mixture into a lightly greased 18cm x 28cm lamington tin.

Bake at 180°C, for approximately 25 minutes.

Cut into 16 bars.

One of the recipes I like where you melt the liquids, add the dry and press in a tin to bake.

Well I followed the directions as I promised.

“First Choice” is a brand of products produced by a supermarket chain a few years ago. I am not aware of them anymore so I couldn’t use them exactly but I still used the equivalent.

I melted all the liquids in a bowl in the microwave and then added each of the remaining ingredients in order, stirring with each addition.

I used Crystallised Glacé Ginger.

However I under estimated the size of the bowl I needed and so they didn’t quite get mixed enough at the end.

I pressed the mixture into my tin but felt it was a bit dry.

I baked it for the required time but didn’t cut it until it had cooled (It didn’t say when to cut it)

It’s a very nice tasting bar (I like dates in baking) and the ginger is not strong.

However as I suspected it has not held very well together and is crumbly.

I will make it again but will make sure it is all mixed thoroughly and if need be, add a little more “spread” (margarine)

Florentine Squares

¾ cup sultanas

4 crushed Weet-Bix

¾ cup raw peanuts

½ cup chopped cherries

½ x 395gr tin of sweetened condensed milk

½ cup chopped dates

Combine sultanas, Weet-Bix, peanuts, cherries, condensed milk and shopped dates.

Mix well.

Grease and line 23cm square tin.

Bake 180°C 20-25 minutes. 

Cut into squares before cold.

Lift out when cold.

May be dribbles with melted carob

Makes 16 squares.

Another great recipe of mixing it all in the one bowl.

It’s off an old Sanitarian Weet-Bix box but I couldn’t find it on their website so it’s quite old.

I measured out the condensed milk first then added the other ingredients as listed giving it all a good stir with each addition.

I pressed it into my tin and baked for 20 minutes.

Remember to cut it while its warm as it is easier while still a little soft.

It sets hard when it is cold.

I didn’t have any carob so made up a little runny icing (about two tablespoons) with just cocoa and icing sugar and dribbled it over the slice in a diagonal while it was still in the tin.

I love this and it will become a Christmas treat for us I think. It’s quite healthy with all the dried fruit and nuts too.

Sweet Weet-Bix Slice

Ingredients 

 5 Sanitarium Weet-Bix crushed

1½ cups white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons cocoa

¾ cup coconut

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon golden syrup

200g margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method

1. Combine Weet-Bix, flour, baking powder, cocoa and coconut in a mixing bowl.

2. Place sugar, golden syrup and margarine into a saucepan and simmer until
sugar is dissolved.

3. Add vanilla essence and blend together.

4. Pour the liquid blend over dry ingredients and mix together.

5. Press into a 20cm x 30cm lined baking dish.

6. Bake in a moderate oven, 180˚C, for 15 minutes or until firm.

7. Ice with chocolate icing while still warm.

I love recipes like this. I got it from the weetbix website a while ago

You mix up all the dry ingredients.

When you combine all the first five ingredients, make sure you mix them in the bowl otherwise when you add the wet ingredients you don’t get an even distribution in the finished product.

I usually just melt the wet ingredients in the microwave but I followed the recipe and made sure the sugar had dissolved.

When a recipe gives you the measurements of a container to bake it in make sure you have the right sized container.

If it is bigger, then you baking will be thinner and take less time to bake and therefore burn of crumble.

If the container is small the baking will be thicker and take longer to cook or come out raw.

I made up an icing of:

1 tbsp butter

¼ cup boiling water

2 tbsp cocoa

1 -2 cups icing sugar.

Melt the butter in the boiling water and add the cocoa. Stir in the icing sugar to the consistency you want for spreading.

I have quite a few chocolate weetbix squares and a lot are crunchier than this.

This one is soft and almost cake like for some reason so a definite keeper.