Lemon slice... and lemon slice cake bites

Do you like my new glass bird canister? My wonderful husband gave it to me as a surprise, along with a square cake platter and glass dome. I love them all, and love the thoughtfulness of the present. It came as a wonderful surprise after a particularly hard week at work. 

This easy no bake slice has a great zesty lemon flavour. This, combined with the crushed biscuits, coconut and sweetened condensed milk makes this classic slice hard to resist. 

The recipe uses 3/4 of a can of sweetened condensed milk and one package of biscuits. If you want to use a whole can, I have provided the recipe below. This will make enough for one 18cm by 28cm and one 20cm by 20cm slice, or one 18cm by 28cm slice and lots of tablespoon sized lemon bites.

If you cut the slice into 4x6 squares this will make around 18 pieces for the 18x28 pan recipe.

You will need approx two lemons for this recipe.

Ingredients:

Base

80g butter
3/4 cup/250g sweetened condensed milk
1 package/250g Scotch finger biscuits
1 cup/85g desiccated coconut

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest*
1 tablespoon/20ml fresh lemon juice (Note – if your tbs measures 15ml, you will need to also add a tsp of lemon juice)

Lemon Icing
1 3/4 cups/250g icing sugar
2 tablespoons/40ml fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons desiccated coconut, for sprinkling on top of slice

* This combination of the zest and lemon juice in the base, along with the lemony zing of the icing works well. But you can always increase the zest for a more intense flavour.

Method:
Grease and line an 18cm by 28cm baking pan with baking paper. I like to have an overhang of baking paper to allow easy removal of the slice once set.

Over a med-low heat, place the chopped butter and condensed milk in a small saucepan until mixture is smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and set aside.

Roughly break up the biscuits and place in a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the coconut and zest, and pulse for a few more seconds until distributed evenly. Remove from food processor and place in a large bowl.

Add the lemon juice into condensed milk mixture, then add this mixture to the dry ingredients.Stir with a spatular until well combined. 

The mixture will look quite wet, don't worry - this is normal. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and evenly spread the mixture. The bottom of a spoon or a spatula works well - but it is a bit sticky so it takes a bit of patience. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden.

Alternatively, if you want to make lemon balls, pop in the fridge for 10 minutes to harden slightly, then roll into tablespoon sized balls. Place on prepared pan and pop back in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to harden.

Only make your icing when you are ready to use it, as it sets relatively quickly! Make icing by combining sifted icing sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat. Continue to stir mixture until completely smooth. Remove from heat and use immediately.

Ingredients for a whole can of condensed milk:

Base

126g butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
250g packet scotch finger biscuits plus 150g scotch finger biscuits
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon/134g desiccated coconut

1 3/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tablespoons/30ml fresh lemon juice

Lemon Icing
2 3/4 cups/395 icing sugar
1/4 cup/63ml fresh lemon juice

Refrigerate slice until cold and firm then remove from the pan and cut into pieces. Store slice in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.