January 25, 2017
Happy Australia Day to all my Aussie readers! I love that we get a holiday to celebrate Australia just after Christmas, because sometimes you need a little extra to get you through the first working month of the year! For someone who is anything but tanned or able to go out in the sun around midday, I really do love Australia Day. I can’t think of one that I haven’t had a good time at, as it gives you a great excuse to relax with friends and having some delicious food and listen to the Hottest 100! What a great way to celebrate, even though it normally ends up raining so you can’t enjoy the sunshine. Hopefully this year will be sunny, as I’m heading to the Yarra Valley for a winery tour! What’s more Australian than experiencing Australian wine? Probably beer, but hey!
This year, in my quest to clear out my pantry, I decided to try making a classic recipe that reminds me of Australia, in honor of the occasion. When I think of Australian food, there are a number that come to mind, some which I like more than others. I mean I like the occasional vegemite on toast, but it’s probably not something I really bake with. I am more partial to the sweet treats, such as lamingtons, tim tams, pavlova and anzac biscuits. When I think back to Australia Days, or times in my life that I feel are quintessentially Australian, these foods are often being consumed. But there is one sweet treat that really sticks in my memory, and so I decided I would try it.
When I was younger, my family used to do a lot of road trips. We drove up to the top of Queensland, down to Dubbo, around Northern NSW and Western Queensland. Some of my great childhood memories come from these road trips, and they really make me think of what is so great about Australia. There is so much to see, and so much natural beauty, but even the small towns are so gorgeous and full of character. One of the best parts of the roadtrips for me was pulling into a tiny country town for a stop over, and exploring it. This often involved going to the local bakery for a treat, because I had the biggest sweet tooth known to man. I had two go to sweets: vanilla slice and hedgehog slice. So when thinking of what recipe I was going to try this week in honor of Australia Day, I immediately thought of hedgehog slice.
For anyone who isn’t aware, hedgehog slice is a delicious, chocolatey treat filled with arrowroot biscuits, nuts and coconut, with chocolate on top. It is absolutely delicious, as it has crunch, chocolate and a subtle coconut flavour. It reminds me of tiny little mum and dad bakeries in the quiet country towns, which is basically the only time I would ever buy this. But the flavours bring back fond memories of my time roadtripping around Australia with my family. What’s more Australian than that? Again, probably beer. But I wasn’t about to make that!
If you’ve never made hedgehog slice before, it’s actually really easy! You don’t even need an oven, how great is that? And the best thing about this recipe, was that I was able to put a bit of a twist on it to use up more things from my pantry. Usually you would use walnuts, but I had some pistachios and so used these instead. I also only had enough dark chocolate for the main slice, and so I ended up using white chocolate for the topping. I felt this was even more appropriate for Australia Day, because another really Australian thing is top deck chocolate. So I figured why not bring together my love of bakery classics with my love for chocolate? And use up items in my pantry! Honestly it was a win win, especially because my gamble paid off and resulted in a recipe which I just had to share with you, because it was that good! This is pimped up hedgehog slice if I ever did see one!
- 250 grams of arrowroot biscuits or another plain biscuit
- ¾ cup of desiccated coconut
- ¾ cup of hulled pistachios or chopped walnuts
- 3 tablespoons of cocoa
- 150 grams of dark chocolate melts
- 100 grams of butter chopped
- 1 can of condensed milk
- 225 grams of white chocolate melts
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
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Line a brownie tin with baking paper and set aside.
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Fill a snap-lock bag with the arrowroot biscuits, squeeze out excess air, and hit with a rolling pine on a hard surface until the biscuits are crushed.
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In a large bowl, combine the crushed biscuits, desiccated coconuts, pistachios and cocoa and set aside.
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In a small saucepan over a low heat, combine the dark chocolate, butter and condensed milk together for 4-5 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from heat when mixture is completed melted and combined, and allow to cool slightly. Stir into the dry ingredients to ensure completely combined.
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Press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
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Just before the end of the 30 minutes, place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave uncovered in 30 second increments, until completely melted. Add the oil and stir to combine, and then spread the mixture over the slice. Refrigerate for an additional 30 minutes, or until set.
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Use a hot knife to cut the slice into squares, and keep in the fridge until serving.
For a sweet treat that is so tasty, it’s really quite easy to make. As long as you have the ingredients on hand, its just a matter of mixing things together, a bit of stirring on the stove, and a lot of time in the fridge. Honestly, if you are looking for a recipe that is simple but comes out impressive, this is your match! The best part is that you have all this time while it sets to go off and do other things, so if you are struggling to fit in making something between other chores, this one is perfect! You can just set and forget, then when you are ready to serve, just chop it up!
You could easily change this recipe to suit what you have in the pantry. If you don’t have arrowroot biscuits, any plain biscuit would work fine. You also don’t even need to add nuts if you don’t want to, or you could add walnuts instead of the pistachios. I liked how the slice turned out though with the brilliant green shining through the cut slice, so if you can include it I would. You could also just as easily use milk or dark chocolate instead of the white chocolate I used, it would just mean that it was more traditional.
I felt like this twist on a classic really worked out a treat! Not only did the taste remind me of my childhood and those quaint little country bakeries, but it also tasted even better because it was something a bit different! This slice looks really impressive when it’s finished and cut up, so would be the perfect thing to whip up for your Australia Day weekend, or any other occasion. I reckon it would definitely be a hit, especially because it is so familiar to people.
What’s your favourite Australian food?
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
