Finding physical evidence that I ever made this slice in my flat is hard to come by. It seems to disappear as quickly as it comes out of the oven. I hid portions of the first batch I made in the freezer but they were soon discovered and devoured by sugar craving flatmates.
Like all good old ladies, my Nana lives off a diet of tea and cake. The T and B (tea and biscuit) diet as my med flatmates affectionately refer to it as. Nana's birthday is tomorrow so I decided to make her some of this slice to fill her tins with. Anything sweet is a win in Nana's books.
I made a caramel oat slice a while back but I have just found this which one blasts the old recipe out of the water. So I am afraid I am going to have to double up on the old caramel slice postings.
Once again I found this gem in Ripe Recipes: A fresh batch (this book is seriously a good investment). What I love about this one is that the topping is a mixture of egg, sugar and threaded coconut. No faffing around with butter etc etc so it makes a lovely and light coconut topping to the slice. The caramel filling is also filled with even more sugar to make it extra rich and wonderful. This base crisps up really nicely which is great if that is what you are into. It really is just a win all around.
When I first made these I had a spare half can of condensed milk in my fridge. How this half can was still there after half a week I do not know. So I added it to the recipe and made one and a half times the required filling. holy moly. Do it. If you happen to have any rogue condensed milk lying around and you can resist the urge to eat it off the spoon at all times of the day then add it in and boost the caramel love.
Page 127 is already covered in stickiness and flour but I doubt this will be the last time I open up to this recipe. Give it a go. It is so great.
(Ps this freezes well - if it even makes it to the freezer).
Caramel Coconut Slice
Adapted from Ripe Recipes: a fresh batch by Angela Redfern
makes 20x30cm slice
Base
1 cup plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup threaded coconut
1/2 cup sugar
100g butter, melted
filling
60g butter
400g tin of condensed milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 cup brown sugar
topping
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups threaded coconut
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees on bake and line a 20x30 baking tray (or slightly smaller) with baking paper.
Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and coconut then slowly pour in the butter and mix until it is all evenly dispersed. Press firmly into your baking tin to form a thin layer then bake for ten minutes or until the top is a very light golden brown colour.
While the base bakes, make the filling. Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a medium sized saucepan then pour in the condensed milk. Warm up the milk then add in the brown sugar. Stir to remove any lumps and continue to heat so that the mixture thickens slightly and develops a slight caramel flavour. Pour this mixture over the base as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Whisk together the eggs and sugar then mix in the coconut. Sprinkle this topping over the caramel then bake for another 20-25 minutes. Be careful not to let the coconut burn so keep a close eye on it towards the end of the baking time.
Leave to cool and refrigerate so that slicing into tidy pieces is easier. I recommend storing in the fridge to keep the caramel nice and firm. I personally love eating it straight out of the freezer.
Enjoy!
