Our town had a funeral this week. This is the sort of funeral I don’t mind – an old lady, well-loved, dying of old age after a full life. Country funerals are always well attended, and country people are big eaters, so there needs to be plenty of food at the wake, especially for the folk who have travelled. I whipped up a couple of batches of this easy slice to take along – it’s a very old Australian recipe, still popular today.
The base is moist, a little heavier than cake, and then there is a layer of jam, and a good crunchy, sweet coconut topping. If you use gluten-free flour the base turns out a little firmer.
Because the lady who passed had been a long-standing member of our branch of the CWA (Country Women’s Association) we did the catering, and the wake was held at our local RSL hall.
Catering was a simple affair – a plenitude of home-made cakes, slices and biscuits, freshly made sandwiches, and several gallons of excellent tea and rather average instant coffee.
I use this slice recipe often when I’m expecting a crowd. It packs well if we are out mustering, and it keeps well too, not that I ever seem to have any over. It will also freeze nicely. It can be made with gluten-free flour too, and still tastes fine.
When we were kids it was a favourite in our school lunch-box.
There is something very comforting about a cup of tea, a little bite of tasty sustenance, and a good long chat with friends.
Coconut and Jam Slice
Note – the pictures show a double batch so don’t panic if your quantities don’t look like the photographs!
Ingredients for the Base: 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 1/4 cups self-raising flour (gluten-free is fine), 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 egg
Method: Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla to a cream, add beaten egg and then fold through flour until the mixture forms a firm base. Press into a baking-paper lined 28cm x 18cm slice tin.
Topping: 1/2 cup of raspberry jam (it’s fine to use any flavour jam on hand – favourites of mine are apricot and plum), 1 cup dessicated coconut, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 egg.
Method: Spread the jam thinly over the base. I ended up using a jar of my Mum’s strawberry jam, as it was the only flavour left in my pantry besides marmalade (from prior experimentation not a great combination). PS. Great jam, Mum! xx
Then mix the beaten egg, coconut and sugar together in a bowl until moist and well combined.
Carefully spread the coconut topping over the jam layer, making sure you take it right to the edges. Press down lightly with a wet hand or the back of a wet spoon.
Bake in a moderate (160 degree celcius fan-forced or 180 degree oven) for 25 minutes until golden brown. Check the topping in the last few minutes in case you need to adjust your cooking time. It should look like the picture below. BTW, this makes a wonderful dessert served hot with ice-cream or cream if you have visitors and few ingredients to hand.
Cool in the tin and then cut into squares and store in an air-tight container. Here are the left-over edges and dodgy pieces (poor shapes or a bit broken) I deemed unsuitable for serving (the CWA has standards, thank you very much!) that stayed in the home biscuit tin for us plebs to eat. I quite like the edges. They are crunchy and chewy where the jam bubbles up… Enjoy! ♥
My tray is 17x27cm. The recipe sounds great. Do you think it will work with this sized tin?
Absolutely! Let us know how it turns out. It’s such a yummy recipe. Nx
You mention the Australian cup is 250ml. I live in America & our cup is more like 237.59ml. So, using American measurements won’t work for your recipe?
Susan, why not wing it and see! Just don’t be generous with your cups and you should be fine ❤️
I can’t find quantities for the topping , please?
Hi Suzanne, keep scrolling down, and you will find quantities clearly listed after the picture of the base 😊
I would like to make this for our church harvest service but I’m unsure of the size of cup. Thank you
Hi Shereen, an Australian cup is 250ml. Hope that helps. Enjoy your church harvest service 🙏💕
Thank you so much.
Sounds great – any chance of you converting the recipe to grams? Not sure how to measure 3 tbsp s butter! Thanks
Gill, a tablespoon is 15 grams. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your recepie it was so yum and nice and simple to make.
We made this yesterday and boy was it good. Thanks for sharing this. Simon
My mum used to make this and I was talking about it recently to my daughter in law in London. Xxx
I made some of this again today but I converted the amounts wrongly and put too much flour in. I had to add milk to get it to stick together but it tastes great – a bit bready perhaps, but jolly nice all the same!
‘Jolly nice?’ Oh, that made my day. Jolly nice!!! I might go back and convert all the measurements in this recipe for you. You need a good slice to go with your cuppa. 😀 {{{HUGS}}} Have a beautiful weekend xx
Thank you my dear, I did have a good slice with a mug of tea this afternoon and it was highly satisfactory. Have a splendid weekend yourself! xo
I can report that these are absolutely wonderful! I used a mixture of wholemeal and white flour, a little less sugar than the recipe said and plum jam instead of raspberry, but they were superb and I will definitely make them again, thank you very much for a fantastic recipe!
Great to hear they turned out so well! Plum jam is one of my favourite variations 🙂
I froze some of these when I made them about 6 weeks ago and I defrosted one today. It was great, thank you again Nicole!
Yay for that! 😀
Thank you for this recipe, I’m going to try making it because it looks absolutely delicious!
Wonderful! Enjoy xx
I’ve just made it and the smell in the kitchen is gorgeous! I can’t wait for it to cool down so I can cut it up and taste it.
Yay! I am never very good with waiting. I often cut a corner out to eat hot. (Warning – this takes skill so that you don’t crumble the rest.) Oh dear, I fear I may teach you bad habits…
Don’t worry, I’m afraid I already have those habits myself…
Wow that reminds me of the recipe my Mum used to make-there was always a jar in the cupboard of coconut and jam slice xxoo
It looks very appetizing.. My doctor told me not eat any bread.. so basically I could make one of these without bread.. I think I will……….
It is delicious with a cup of tea, Beatrice. It works well with gluten-free flour too. I hope you enjoy it 🙂
yummy (i love coconut!)
It’s very yummy. Coconut is a favourite ingredient in this household, so I promise to post some more coconut-based recipes!
Before I started reading this, I thought “this would go great with a cup of tea,” just to see that you mention having tea with this cake. Wise choice!
Great minds think alike, Dienna… xx
yum!
Thanks for dropping by my blog, Sharon! Bless xx