Foodie Friday Aussie Style

I love blogging. Actually the blogging itself can be, at times, a pain in the butt but what I really like is the social aspect of blogging. You have your real life friends and you have your blog friends. Sometimes your blog friends become real life friends and sometimes your blog friends become chat friends or email friends.

Any way you slice it I find it exciting to make a connection with people from around the world. To learn about new cultures and to learn about regional differences in my own country is exciting to me. Of course, I'm the same woman that has a best friend that she met in the wine section of the grocery store. Gregarious, no?

One of my blog friend, who I would love to make a real life friend, is Mum-me from Australia. You've probably seen her comments. She has a wonderfully dry sense of humor that makes me laugh. She also has six children under the age of 14. Really, who couldn't admire her for that? Just the logistics alone makes my head spin.

Best of all she bakes. I'm try not to bake because it feels like chemistry. You have to really follow directions when you bake. Cooking, not so much. Baking is like math. I don't do math.

We have really got to make her give us the directions to make her Christmas Tree cake. It is the coolest thing you've ever seen.

So I begged my wonderful Aussie blog friend Mum-me to send me a Aussie recipe. What she came up with was something called Caramel Slice. This is looks unbelievably good. Really, how can you go wrong with caramel, chocolate and a coconut? She even sent photos. How great is that?

She goes by the metric system but she was kind enough to do the conversions. She knows that I'm totally math impaired. The whole gram thing? You're on your own.


Caramel Slice

INGREDIENTS

Base: 1 cup plain flour, 1/2 cup coconut, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 125g melted margarine or butter.

Filling: 60g margarine or butter, 1 can (400g) condensed milk, 2 tablespoons golden syrup (you can use light molasses if you can't find golden syrup.)

Topping: 60g copha (vegetable shortening), 125g dark choc or milk choc melts.

METHOD

1) Preheat oven to 180*C (350*F)
2) Mix all ingredients for base.
3) Press in to a tin which has been lined with baking paper. (I use a 23cm square Christmas cake tin.)

4) Bake for 15 minutes or until pale golden brown.
5) While the base is baking, melt the extra 60g margarine or butter in a medium saucepan.
6) Add the condensed milk and the golden syrup.
7) Stir constantly, while cooking over low heat, until mixture begins to thicken slightly.



8) Spread filling onto the prepared base.

9) Bake for another 15 - 20 minutes until the caramel mixture bubbles all over.

10) Remove from oven and cool slightly.




11) In a smaller saucepan melt the copha and dark or milk choc melts slowly over low heat,



12) When well combined, gently pour the chocolate topping over the caramel and spread to even out, if necessary.

13) Place in the fridge until set.



14) Cut into slices.

15) See how long it lasts!
You'll find these are so popular that they will be the first delicious morsels to disappear at any 'bring-a-plate' type of gathering. Eat up!


Nothing I can add to that.

Love,
M