It's that time of year again. The end of the school year is upon us, Christmas bells are ringing, the weather could go either way, and all around the country Year 10 students are heading off to camp. Tomorrow I am heading off to Boyle River for three days of walks, camping out, river crossing, high ropes, mud runs, camp site cooking and sand fly bites. I've got my shorts packed, woollen jerseys, leggings too; not a hair dryer, powder compact, eye pencil or cell phone tower in sight as we go back to the basics. Its been a long tradition that the staff bring delicious baking to share whilst we while away the night waiting for the last child to go to sleep.
This year I am bringing Chocolate Caramel Slice, from the recipe by Donna Hay, Simple Essentials Chocolate, and Passion fruit and Coconut Slice, adapted from the Rhubarb Cafe's recipe - printed in the supermarket Food Magazine. Our very clever baker, Miss Dwan, made the original Passion fruit Slice for our HOF meeting. It was very well received, and even kept the most outspoken of our number quietly munching for a while.
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar
125g butter, melted
Caramel filling:
1/3 cup golden syrup
125 butter, melted
2 x 400g cans sweetened condensed milk
1 large bar dark chocolate
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C.
Place the flour, coconut, sugar and butter in a bowl and mix well. Press into a 20 x 30cm slice tin lined with baking paper. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.
To make the filling: Place the golden syrup, butter, and condensed milk in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until the caramel has thickened slightly. Don't let it stick or burn on the bottom. Pour over the cooked base and bake a further 15 minutes or until the caramel is golden.
Melt the chocolate and blend in the oil. Once the slice is cool, spread the chocolate over the top and leave to set. Once cold slice into small pieces to serve.
Passion fruit Coconut Slice
1 cup plain flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
125g butter, melted
Topping:
395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup passion fruit pulp (I used the sweetened version in the jar)
Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C. and line a 20 x 30 cm baking tin.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the coconut, sugar and melted butter. Blend together and press firmly into the tin. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden.
While the base is cooking, blend the condensed milk, coconut, lemon juice and passion fruit pulp together. Pour the topping over the cooked base and bake for a further 15 minutes. Cool then chill overnight. Once cold cut into squares.
The original recipe had a much thicker base and no coconut in the filling. I quite like a crispy base, and I thought the topping would be stabilised by the addition of the coconut.
I will slice them up tomorrow before I go. Just enough time left now to finish packing my bag and deciding which craft projects I can reasonably justify fitting in my bag and which will have to stay home!
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt in an immaculately clean bowl - any grease will prevent the egg whites from fluffing up.
Once the whites reach the soft peak stage, combine the sugar and cornflour and add a tablespoon at a time to the whites. 
Take from the beater and gently fold in the vanilla and thread coconut. 
Bake for 10 minutes at 150deg. C, then reduce the oven to 100deg. C for 30 minutes. Then turn the oven off and leave the meringues in there until they and the oven have cooled. 
