Paradise Slices

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something glu…ten-free

Wotchers!

Bit of a bumper-fun bonus this week, with not one, not two, not three but FOUR recipes, each named Paradise Slice. Initially I was just going to make a post with two contrasting recipes, but I got a bit carried away.

It all started with me reading a recipe in a small, vintage paperback pamphlet from the S.W.R.I. of Shapinsay, in Orkney. Their Paradise Slice comprised a rich, almond sponge, studded with dried fruits, candied cherries and baked in a shortcrust pastry case. Lovely, I thought. Baked it, and decided it needed tweaking a little, so made it again, this time with my crisp, cornflour shortcrust, which makes for a delicious contrast with the rich, buttery almond sponge, and also swapped in some confit fruit I’d bought on holiday in France.

Then I discovered a much-requested Paradise Slice in the Los Angeles Times, which was very different indeed: dark, rich, chewy and studded with pecans. Lovely, I thought – right up until I read how many calories it had per serving. So I did some tweaking and also reduced the batch size, making a slice now only 200 calories as opposed to, originally, over 500.

Then it occurred to me that I shouldn’t forget people with gluten intolerances. So I adapted a recipe from Sainsbury’s magazine that used as its base a mixture of popcorn and rice cereal. With a few more tweaks I managed to get each slice of this particular paradise down to less than 100 calories. Lovely, I thought.

Finally, being inspired by all these delicious contrasting bakes,  I decided to create my own Paradise Slice. I wanted it to have similar tropical ingredients, but be a different texture and flavour experience. I took the topping from the Hungarian Cheesecake and added lime and orange zest and juice, because the acid in the citrus juice reacts with the condensed milk to make a cheesecake-like mixture without all the faff. I mixed in some crushed pineapple and desiccated coconut and also stirred through a little creme fraiche for sharpness. I poured this onto the base from the L.A.Times recipe and left it to set in a cooling oven before chilling in the fridge. The result is fantastically tropical, fresh-tasting and not overly sweet.  It cuts beautifully, as the coconut takes up excess moisture as it sets in the oven, and can be enjoyed as a dessert or as an accompaniment to coffee. Best of all, it too is a storecupboard recipe, especially if, like me, you have a bag of Seville orange zest/juice cubes in the freezer (I cannot recommend this highly enough, so useful to have their tangy, bitter/sharp flavour on hand throughout the year).

Bloody lovely, I thought!

Shapinsay Paradise Slice – Makes 16 slices

The original recipe called for sultanas, raisins and glace cherries in equal measure. Nowadays we have a much wider selection of preserved fruit, so I heartily encourage you to go wild with whatever combination you fancy – mango, papaya, apricots, candied peel – whatever seems like paradise!

Cornflour shortcrust pastry – recipe here

115g unsalted butter – softened
115g caster sugar
2 large eggs
60g self-raising flour
60g ground almonds
a little milk for mixing

100g dried/candied fruit
2tbs cornflour

4-5tbs jam – I suggest apricot, but anything slightly sharp will be suitable also.
1tbs caster sugar

• Preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°C Fan.
• Roll the pastry out thinly (3mm) and line a greased (and lined if liked) baking tin of dimensions roughly 18cm by 28cm. Prick the base with a fork.
• Line with baking paper and beads/rice and bake for 12 minutes.
• Remove the baking paper and beads/rice and bake for a further 8 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.
• Brush the hot pastry with jam and set aside while the rest of the filling is prepared.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C, 160°C Fan.
• Toss the fruit in the cornflour until thoroughly coated. Tip into a sieve to remove the excess cornflour.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well each time.
• Fold in the flour and ground almonds.
• Stir in a little milk until the mixture is of a dropping consistency – that is, it drops freely from a spoon.
• Spread half od the mixture over the pastry case.
• Stir the fruit into the remaining half of the mixture, then drop in spoonfuls over the plain mixture. This method will help prevent the fruit immediately sinking to the bottom of the sponge.
• Smooth over the top and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the sponge is springy to the touch and nicely browned.
• Sprinkle over the caster sugar whilst hot.
• Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
• When cold, slice into serving portions with a sharp knife.
• Store in an airtight container.

San Diego Paradise Slice – Makes 16 slices

Adapted from the recipe of Bread & Cie, printed in the L.A.Times.

For the base
85g unsalted butter
85g wholemeal flour
75g dark muscovado sugar

For the topping
200g dark muscovado sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
20g wholemeal flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
100g unsweetened desiccated coconut
125g pecans

• Preheat the oven to 175°C, 155°C Fan.
• Line a baking tray with parchment. I used one of dimensions 20cm x 28cm, but anything roughly that size is fine.
• Put the base ingredients into a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Muscovado sugar can be a bit clumpy and this is a speedy and efficient way to break down the lumps.
• Spread the mixture into the prepared tin. Pack it down firmly – use a flat-bottomed glass tumbler or similar to get a really smooth, firm surface.
• Bake the base for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
• Mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla until creamy (about 5 minutes).
• Stir in the flour mixture, the coconut and the pecans.
• Pour this mixture over the base and smooth over.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes until set.
• Cool in the tin.
• When cold, cut into 16 bars,.
• Store in an airtight container.

Popcorn Paradise Slice – makes 32 gluten-free slices

This paradise slice is a variation on the rice krispie bar but with the added flavour of popcorn. I’ve decided to use air-popped popcorn, to reduce both the sugar and fat content. Air-popped corn uses no fat in the pan, just the heat from the stove to make the corn pop. I also tweaked the original recipe to include more fruit. The quantities below are to be seen as guidelines only – use whatever mix of fruit and nuts takes your fancy, just keep to the overall weight of fruit/nuts to no more than 250g.

75g popping corn
75g gluten-free rice cereal
200g mixed, tropical fruit
50g coconut ribbons
300g marshmallows
50g unsalted butter

• Put the popping corn into a clean, dry saucepan and cover with a lid.
• Put the pan over medium heat and shake it vigorously to keep the kernels from burning before they pop.
• When all the popping sounds have ceased, tip the popped corn into a bowl to cool. Wipe the pan with a clean cloth.
• Pick out any un-popped kernels.
• When cool, add in the rice cereal, fruit and nuts and mix thoroughly.
• Line a large baking tray (24cm x 36cm-ish) with foil and grease lightly with either spray or butter.
• Put the marshmallows and butter into the pan and heat gently until both have melted. Stir thoroughly.
• Add the dry ingredients to the pan and stir well, ensuring as even a coating as possible for all of the ingredients.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press down firmly. If you prefer to use your hands, cover the mix with some greased cling film first.
• Chill in the fridge until completely cold, then cut into 32 fingers.
• Store in an airtight container.

Coconut Pineapple Paradise Slice – makes 16 slices

This is possibly the easiest, in terms of effort, of all four recipes, as it is mostly just letting the oven or the fridge do all the work.

It is another of my Lego™ recipes – stick a bit of recipe A onto recipe B, add a little something-something and, as Jeff Goldblum would say…

You can use any two citrus fruits you like, but I don’t recommend two of the same, as then they tend to gang up on the other ingredients and overpower them. And definitely not two Seville oranges – the bitter is too much for the pineapple. I’ve also tried this with fresh pineapple for an even fresher taste, but the juice content didn’t allow it to set as firmly as I’d have liked. Were I to try this again, I’d sprinkle the chopped pineapple with sugar to help draw out as much moisture as possible.

For the base
85g unsalted butter
85g wholemeal flour
75g dark muscovado sugar

For the topping
1 x 400g-ish tin crushed pineapple in juice
1 x 400g-ish tin sweetened condensed milk
100g low fat creme fraiche (or thick sour cream)
zest & juice of 1 lime
zest & juice of 1 orange – Seville if you have it
100g dessicated coconut

• Preheat the oven to 175°C, 155°C Fan.
• Open the tin of pineapple and tip it into a sieve over a bowl. Leave to drain for about an hour – you want as much of the juice to drain out as possible.
• Mix the condensed milk, creme fraiche and citrus together and stir thoroughly.
• With a spatula, press the pineapple firmly to extract as much juice as possible. Yes, even after an hour’s draining. Repeat several times as necessary. When no more juice can be squeezed from it, add it to the condensed milk mixture and mix well.
• Finally, stir in the coconut and set aside until required.
• Line a baking tray with parchment. I used one of dimensions 20cm x 28cm, but anything roughly that size is fine.
• Put the base ingredients into a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Muscovado sugar can be a bit clumpy and this is a speedy and efficient way to break down the lumps.
• Spread the mixture into the prepared tin. Pack it down firmly – use a flat-bottomed glass tumbler or similar to get a really smooth, firm surface.
• Bake the base for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.
• Pour the filling over the cooked base and smooth over.
• Return the tin to the oven and switch off the heat.
• Leave the tray in the now cooling oven for two hours, then remove and leave to cool, if necessary.
• Finally, chill thoroughly in the fridge (probably another 2 hours).
• Cut into slices and serve.
• Store in the fridge either covered or in an airtight container.

In case you missed it: This week over on DejaFood – Apricot Dream Slice