Tropical Ginger, Coconut and Lemon Slice

Allow me to present a nostalgic and vintage style slice for you on a Sunday. At this time of year in our Southern Hemisphere Winter, which I am loving, ginger is my favourite spice, and I use it whenever I can in savoury and sweet cooking. Ginger has an irresistable combination  of hot, clean and cool flavours. Although to be honest, Middle Eastern Baharat comes a close second to Ginger for me, and I use it in my iced Ginger Cake or my Ginger Syrup Cake (same recipe). I try to always substitute Baharat for the mixed spice. 

Ginger is central to the cuisines of so many countries, and is so versatile. We can slice it, chop it, grate, mince or dehydrate it into a powdered spice, which is what I am using here in this delicious slice. In my recent In My Kitchen in July 2023 post, I talked about how we had just harvested all of our fresh ginger crop, and dehydrated a large percentage of it, which I'll use this year mainly for baking. Ginger which we dry ourselves, has so much more punch and flavour than the bought stuff. I use it whenever I can. Here in the tropics it is so easy to grow edible ginger, and also the beautiful ornamental but not edible  ginger plants that can scent the garden exquisitely in the evening. The grated fresh ginger is also very aromatic and tasty in stir fries.

In this recipe I have doubled the amount of ginger that was in the original vintage recipe, which I found in the Australian Women's Weekly Beautiful Biscuits recipe book, which is quite a classic.   If I am going to use ginger, I want to feel a bit of heat and taste a lot of flavour. I also changed the icing recipe so that it is now thicker on the slice. I generally just make icing by instinct, but I thought I would follow a recipe this time so I could write it up exactly. This is one of the easiest baked slices to make, I started making it yesterday at around 9.30 am and by 10.45 am we were sitting down enjoying it with a cup of coffee for morning tea. That is what I love about baking slices like this one, they are so quick and easy to make and will keep for 4-5 days covered in the refrigerator. They won't last that long in our house though.

Ingredients

 60 g  (2 oz) butter, chopped

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1 cup (150 g)  self-raising flour

3 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 cup (110 grams) caster sugar

1/2 cup (45 grams) desiccated coconut

1 egg (lightly beaten)

Lemon Icing

1 1/2 cup (240 g) icing sugar

40 g (1 oz) softened butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice (approximately)

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 teaspoon hot water, if needed

Extra coconut to sprinkle over icing if desired

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees, fan forced.

In a small saucepan melt butter and syrup over a low heat.

Sift the flour and the ginger into an average sized bowl. Add the sugar, coconut, and lightly beaten egg.

Pour in the mixture of  melted butter and golden syrup.

Give it a good stir and when well combined, press into a well-greased 28cm x 18 cm (11in x 7 in) lamington tin.

Spot the jar of 2023 homemade ginger spice in the background. 

Bake in a moderate oven on the middle shelf for 25-30 minutes. 25 min was plenty for my oven.

Cool your tin on a cooling rack .

When still warm enough, spread with the delicious Lemon icing.

Sometimes I sprinkle the icing with desiccated coconut, just to finish it off nicely, but it's not necessary. I like the vintage and comforting look that coconut brings to a lemon iced slice. I guess that's what my Mum always did, and I'm sure she made a version of this slice, back in the day. 

 Cut into squares. Mr. HRK did a great job of this. He also handled the taste test admirably. Poor darling has a chest infection, so he needs the ginger spice.

Lemon Icing Method:

Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl.

Add the soft butter, grated lemon rind, and enough juice to make a stiff paste. If necessary add a little hot water until spreadable.

Spread the icing with a knife onto the slightly warm biscuit base.

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• Sometimes I send a parcel to our family in France, with gifts or clothes for the children, and I often include a packet of Naked Ginger produced in Buderim on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. This is where a large majority of the ginger produced in Australia is grown on co-operative farms.  Matthew loves the packet of ginger arriving,  and often shares it around with his French friends. I also include a jar of vegemite, as he can't buy it over there in the supermarkets. I love my vegemite on toast as well, and I took a jar over when I visited. I'm due to send another jar. I want to ensure that my grandchildren and Matthew are still enjoying some Australian produced foodstuffs. Myrtille prefers Olive Tapenade to vegemite, fair enough, she's French.  Do you send parcels overseas to family and friends? What do you like to include for them? 
And now it's time for a cuppa and a piece of this slice.
• Warm wishes, thanks for dropping by.
• Pauline x