Little Ivy

When I was little I always looked at the kids who had home made cakes, slices and cookies with envy. Sorry Mum! Mind you it was pretty easy to swap my chips or lamingtons for a piece of cake or slice. So it got me thinking, surely all domestic goddess’ can make a good slice (especially as the 1950s are back in fashion!).

As we are going camping this weekend I thought it was the perfect time to bake a slice to take with us (in a container with a tight fitting lid…). Back to Donna Hay, my old faithful, for a recipe. There were so many choices  but I decided that since there would be no kids wanting to eat the slice I could make something for a more adult palette – ginger crunch slice.

What you need…

• 2.5 cups of plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 250 grams cold butter

icing

• 150g butter
• 1/4 cup golden syrup
• 1.5 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1.5 cups icing sugar

The how to…

1) Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

2) Into the bowl of your food processor, sift together flour, baking powder, ginger and sugar. Process in short bursts until it is combined.

3) Chop your cold butter and add to the above. Process until it resembles fine bread crumbs.

4) Lightly grease a tin and line it with baking paper. Press the crumbs into the tin. It will remain crumbly until cooked.

5) Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and firm to touch. Leave to cool.

6) Mix together the butter, golden syrup and ginger in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the butter is melted.

7) Remove from the heat, add the sifted icing sugar and whisk until it is well combined. (Don’t sift too hard or turn around to talk while doing it or you may cover your remote in icing sugar!)

8) Pour the icing over the cooked base. Refrigerate until set (approximately 1 hour).

9) Once cool, cut into small squares. Then scoff!