Linda’s Louise Slice
Once again it’s time to celebrate one of our many colleagues who is passionate about baking. Linda, one of the technical writers, is particularly skilled in the art of home baking. Linda shares her thoughts with us.
“Louise slice evokes the image of ladies’ afternoon tea, lace tablecloths, and bone china, the soft tinkling of genteel laughter and teaspoons. Actually blokes just LOVE this cake; it has the perfect blend of short crust pastry, plenty of jam, your choice of sweet or a little tart, and then the soft but slightly chewy coconut and meringue topping. The recipe is easy and can be made from store-bought pastry to make it even easier – great for those of us that work full time as it means we can keep it simple but still get great results. My mother made it when we were kids, there were six of us so she was a very busy woman, but she still managed to pass on the joy of home baking. My own grown-up children still love to find it in their care packages from home sweet home; some things never change.
“Whether it is a ladylike segment to impress or a big slab for Dad’s lunchbox, the result will be the same…. Yum!”
Ingredients
- Base*
- 50g Butter
- 25g Sugar
- 2 eggs (separated)
- 150g Flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- Topping
- Raspberry jam
- 2 Egg whites
- 125g Sugar
- 50g Coconut
Method
- --
- Preheat your oven to 180°C on Bake.
- 1.Cream butter and sugar; add egg yolks then combine with sifted flour and baking powder.
- 2. Roll mixture out fairly thin (3-5mm) until it is roughly the size of your sponge roll tin. Line your tin with baking paper and place the rolled out mixture into the tin, press the mixture into the corners until the base of the tin is evenly covered.
- 3. Spread the base with raspberry jam.
- 4. Beat egg whites until quite stiff and add 125g sugar. Beat until sugar is dissolved. Fold in the coconut, do not over beat. Spread the meringue evenly over the jam.
- 5. Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C. Cool in the tin before slicing.
- *You can use store bought short-crust pastry if you are short on time
Such a classic cake… if it did not have a name, I would wholeheartedly suggest to call it Linda’s cake. The artist -oh yes, baking this cake does deserve this word- is perfectly right that the cake itself would appeal to ladies immediately with its lightness and elegance. It is whimsical with its softness and crunchiness, tropical a bit due to the coconut flavour… and memorable especially if you happen to use home-made jam, which may bring also back memories from your childhood. Despite all of these fluffy words, blokes may indeed like a slice of this cake, who could resist a whimsical woman, tropical exaltation, and/or childhood memories wrapped into frothy sweetness at the same time?
Thank you for the great comment; you must be a man of considerable taste and character, who appreciates life’s special little treats.
this slice looks amazing! I have never heard of it before but have a sister named louise who I will make it for as a treat this weekend
thanks so much for your lovely blog!
I love reading your blog so much! You’re recipes are beautifully photographed and delicious – is there someone in your team that does your photography for you?
I had never heard of this slice before and I have a sister named louise who will be getting some sweet treats baked for her this weekend!! thank you for introducing me to it
Well this recipe does bring back memories of my childhood. When I saw it, I went to my book shelves and pulled out my Edmond’s Cookery Book (1957) edition, and there it was. So glad that you have revived this on your blog. It also now has solved my dilemma of what to bake for our Ladies British Tea Fundraiser here in Fallbrook, California. Perfect!
Hi Shirley – yes this slice is perfect with a freshly made cup of tea. We wish you all the best with your fundraiser.