This recipe is loosely based on the Ma Lyn’s Fruit Slice in Amy Minichello’s cookbook Recipes in the Mail (p.71), which in turn comes from Christine O’Neill (and Ma Lyn of course!).
When I was making the slice for the afternoon tea Amy and I hosted in August, the recipe really reminded me of how ANZAC Biscuits are made. The recipe refers to the slice base as a cake, but it really reminded me more of a biscuit.
I enjoyed the slice so much, that the following weekend I made it again, and used Singing Magpie Produce’s Quince Syrup in place of the golden syrup, which added a lovely flavour and gave the slice a slighter deeper golden colour. When I was making the slice, the thought suddenly occurred to me, what would this slice be like if I added oats and ginger?
Something about the recipe’s similarities to ANZAC Biscuits, and me having not long used crystallised ginger in another recipe (I made these biscuits here but with crystallised ginger not stem), had my brain thinking up adaptations to Ma Lyn’s Fruit Slice and creating something new.
I admit I sometimes do find it hard not to think about changes I can make to a recipe, or how a recipe could influence the creation of a new one. It’s not that the original recipe actually needs any changes, it is really really good as it is. However, recipe development and adapting recipes to work out how they could accommodate different flavours and ingredients just comes naturally to me. Recipe ideas come always come from somewhere, and sometimes one perfect recipe can bring many others to life.
I took some of this slice to my work and one colleague said it reminded them of something their mum used to make, which was lovely to hear that a newly created recipe had some nostalgic value to someone else. Which ties back nicely to Amy’s cookbook and the nostalgia that I believe is what keeps all of us making and enjoying family recipes like those shared with Amy, that have in turn been shared in her book Recipes in the Mail.
Oat Raisin and Ginger Slice
Ingredients:
50g rolled oats (not instant oats)
80g golden raisins, chopped
45g desiccated coconut
155g self raising flour
105g caster sugar
80g crystallised ginger, chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
125g unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and line a 30 x 20cm slice tin with baking paper, ensuring some hangs over the sides so you can easily get the slice out of the tin later.
In a large bowl, mix the oats, golden raisins, coconut, self-raising flour, sugar, crystallised ginger and ground ginger with a wooden spoon.
In a small saucepan melt the butter and the golden syrup over low/medium heat until the butter has just melted.
Add the butter mixture, and the vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix together until combined with the wooden spoon you used earlier.
Tip the mixture into the prepared tin, and press it out so it reaches the edges of the tin and has a relatively smooth top. You can use your wooden spoon for this or a spatula.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the slice is nicely golden brown.
Allow the slice to cool in the tin for about 15-20 minutes, then using the overhanging baking paper, gently transfer the slice to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once the slice has cooled completely, you can cut it into however many portions you would like, or you could just cut of bits as you want to eat it.
Makes about 12-15 portions, store in a airtight container. Will keep for 4-6 days.
