Having gradually eaten my way through several bags of tiny caramel filled chocolate eggs in the lead up to Easter, I felt it best to steer away from chocolate … for the time being. I’m almost glad that Cadbury manufactures these delicious goodies only during Easter because I do find them very difficult to resist. Unfortunately my children caught me red handed and so I felt compelled to share the last packet with them. I should have found a better hiding place to enjoy my stash! 

For afternoon tea inspiration I turned to the cookbook Merle’s Kitchen by Merle Parrish the Country Women’s Association judge who impressively competed in a MasterChef baking challenge. I adore her Jam Slice recipe. This is the type of traditional, golden coconut topped slice displayed in cake shop windows throughout Australia when my mother was a little girl in the 1950’s. I’ve tested various recipes but Merle’s is the best. There is a generous amount of toasted coconut topping, just enough jam to add a fragrant, sticky sweet flavour and a dense, not-too-thin but not-too-thick biscuit base. A perfect combination of texture and flavour all neatly sandwiched together in a single square.

I’m going to box up several batches for a school fete in May because it looks so pretty displayed with tissue paper and ribbons and doesn’t require refrigeration in mild and cool weather.

Rather than reaching for a single bunch of flowers as a Mother’s Day gift, consider combining the blooms with a home baked batch of Jam Slice. 

Old Fashioned Jam Slice makes 12 squares (I doubled this recipe for my family and used a larger baking tin to accommodate the mixture.)

Ingredients 

Base
90 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar (I used fine raw sugar)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg
2/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup jam (my favourite combination is raspberry and cherry but use whatever you prefer)

Topping
2 eggs
1/3 cup white sugar
2 cups desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees on a conventional setting. Grease and line a baking tray measuring 28cm x 18cm. 

Combine the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla in mixing bowl and use an electric beater or Kitchen-Aid style mixer to beat until pale and fluffy. 

Add the egg, then the flours and beat again until smooth. 

Scrape into your prepared tin and smooth out evenly using a spatula. Bake for 15 minutes. 

In the meantime, prepare the topping. Simply combine the eggs, sugar and coconut and beat until thoroughly combined. 

Remove the baking tin from the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes before spreading the jam over the entire biscuit base. Scoop the topping mixture out of the bowl and spread over the jam. Return to the oven for another 20 minutes until the coconut is golden brown. 

Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing into squares.