Tag Archives: lemon

Lemon slice

Posted on February 1, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

This is an indulgent recipe, perfect to make for the weekend ahead when everyone needs a bit of pampering and food love.

I’m not sure if this is Australian, but I’ve never seen it outside of Oz (please correct me if I’m wrong!). It’s one of the many foodie things I forget about not living there, and my reaction is always ‘I haven’t eaten that in so long! Why did I forget it when it’s so delicious?!?’

This time around it was the mum of my dearest and oldest friend who made it, and I without any embarrassment or shame (surprisingly for me), ate piece after piece after piece (it was better that I didn’t keep count!).

This has to be one of the simplest recipes possible. It involves no cooking, just crushing and mixing the few ingredients in a food processor then pressing into a tin. I let Nicholas push the button on the food processor for his very first time making this slice. He leaned towards the safety of mum during its loud bursts, a bit unsure, but he also loved pushing that button!

If you’re making this with kids, instead of using a food processor, you can get them to crush the biscuits in a secure and clean plastic bag with a rolling pin (lots of fun!), then mix in the rest of the ingredients by hand.

Try it, but I take absolutely no responsibility for how many pieces you’ll be eating 😉

LEMON SLICE

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 0 mins 🙂
Makes about 20 slices

250g plain sweet biscuits
1/2 tin (about 200g) condensed milk
125g butter, melted and cooled
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 cup icing sugar

Line a square or rectangular cake or slice tin (mine is 20 x 20cm) with baking paper.

Crush the biscuits in a food processor until there aren’t any big chunks left. Add the condensed milk, melted butter, coconut and lemon zest. Pulse to combine.

Press the mixture into the tin using the back of a spoon to spread it evenly. Put into the fridge to set for at least a couple of hours.

To make the icing, stir 1 tsp of lemon juice into the icing sugar, adding more lemon juice a tiny bit at a time until the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Pour over the base and let it set in the fridge for another hour or so.

Cut into squares and devour.

Variations:

use orange zest and juice instead of lemon to make a sweeter citrus slice
if you’re not a big fan of coconut, you can leave it out in the base
if you are a big fan of coconut you can sprinkle some extra over the icing
ice with chocolate icing instead
use ginger biscuits for a tangy lemon slice

Tip: a lazy way to make the lemon icing is to put the icing sugar and 1 tsp of lemon juice in a saucepan with 1 tbsp butter. Stir over a low heat until it’s smooth. Add more lemon juice if it’s too thick.

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Posted in cooking with toddlers, dessert, family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged Australia, indulgence, lemon, lemon slice, lemon zest, no cook recipe, recipe, slice. Bookmark the permalink.

Lemon posset – adult recipe

Posted on July 27, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Being an Aussie living in Britain, I don’t experience that many cultural differences (I even say ‘flip flops’, rather than ‘thongs’, without really thinking now, although I always have a little chuckle inside!). And British cuisine isn’t that much different to the food I was brought up on (lots of meat and three veg, and always a roast for Sunday lunch). But there are occasions when I come across something I’ve never heard before, let alone tasted, and I’m reminded that of course there are cultural differences.

A couple of years ago at a friend’s birthday party as we were deciding on dessert from the set menu, hubby leaned over and asked me ‘What’s lemon posset?’ I didn’t have a clue. And neither did our friends sitting around us, none of them being British. Hubby was happy to take the risk while I opted for something chocolatey (sorry, chocolate versus lemon? No contest!).

The lemon posset looked very simple when it arrived, accompanied by some berries and shortbread. Then we started eating it. It was divine! Creamy heaven. I had to find out how to make it!

A quick search on the Internet and I quickly understood why it tasted so good. Cream. A lot of cream. Oh and sugar and lemons, but it’s basically just sweetened flavoured cooked cream.

Aside from only having three ingredients, it’s also super easy to make and it’s a dessert you can make ahead of time. Being a lover of rich food I tend to make my servings quite large, usually too large for other people. In reality a little lemon posset goes a long way. A small bowl or even a shot glass of it is plenty when accompanied by some fruit and/or biscuits. It can also be a homely dessert or easily transformed into something rather posh (use espresso cups or wine glasses, top with crystallised lemon peel or icing sugar-dusted berries). Your guests will think you’ve been slaving in the kitchen all day.

LEMON POSSET

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: less than 10 mins plus 2-3 hours to set
Makes 6 adult servings
Keeps in the fridge for a day

600ml double cream
140g caster sugar
2 lemons, zested and juiced

Put the cream and sugar in a large saucepan. Over a medium heat, slowly bring it to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. As soon as it starts to boil, drop the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Take the saucepan off the heat.

Whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Add the juice gradually (you might not need it all) and keep tasting it until you’re happy with the flavour.

Pour into 6 serving bowls and refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set.

Super quick avocado pasta sauce

Posted on June 18, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Another fast pasta sauce you can whip up really quickly for your little one. The creamy texture of avocado lends itself perfectly to coat pasta, and not just for babies. Add some more seasoning and a dash of chilli sauce and it’s a yummy dish for you.

I use a mini food processor to blend the avocado, simply to get a bit more creaminess by making it super smooth. However, whizzing up such a small amount can be a bit annoying (you have to keep scraping down the sides of the bowl to get the mixture back under the blades). You can mash the avocado up by hand and either use a bit of muscle to mash it up to a paste or leave the sauce a bit chunkier. The chunks anyway will be soft enough even for babies to easily munch through.

We incorporated some sensory play into our meal. Long cooked pasta like spaghetti isn’t just yummy, but also so much fun to play with!

SUPER QUICK AVOCADO PASTA SAUCE