Actually Written: Term 3 2011
Well, hello beautiful!
You like puff pastry? Yeah me too. You like custard? Well, funny that, so do I! You like icing? Pshaw, why did I even ask!
Well, this vanilla slice recipe gives you the lot. Yea everything oozing out of layers with the prettiest matchstick design we got taught (I guess you now know it is a school recipe).
The taste is brilliant of this entire slice BUT the hero is the homemade EGGLESS (not even substitutes) vanilla custard. So good, so pure and so dam easy to make… no scrambled eggs… oh god kill me now…
I have officially decided to keep this custard as my godsend from now on. In future posts to come like a fruit tart of fish fingers and custard (the day I make it, your nose won’t be wrinkling in disgust I promise and to all those Doctor Who fans, I KNOW) I will ONLY be using this recipe and none other!
Give me a post if you would like me to put up a tutorial on doing the matchstick design. For a computer generated thing, it’s pretty cool
So now go ahead, read this recipe and weep…
Vanilla Slice
From: School Recipes
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 3 sheets ready rolled puff pastry
Custard
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1/2 cup custard powder (you can substitute
this with cornflour in the same amount and a touch of extra vanilla essence but
it may be harder to work with) - 1 cup thickened cream
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 1/2 cups full cream milk
Icing
- 1 tbs butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 1 tbs hot water – a little more if icing begins to harden
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
- Cut pastry into 6 halves. Place on trays lined with baking paper. Prick with fork well all around and bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden
- Place on wire racks to cool completely
- For Custard: Place custard powder (or just cornflour), sugar and half the cream in a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat continuously until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in vanilla (and extra vanilla if used cornflour) – if at this point there are any burnt bits in your custard, immediately use a colander and put it in a new saucepan and continue process!
- Gradually add milk and remaining cream while continuing to stir, until thick enough so coats the back of a spoon without dripping off
- Remove from heat, pour into a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the custard to stop a skin forming. Place in fridge to cool
- For Icing: Beat butter, vanilla and icing sugar with water in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Mix cocoa powder into 1/4 cup vanilla icing in a separate bowl.
- To Assemble: Place one layer of pastry on a board or serving plate (impossible to lift!). Place 1/4 of pastry on top and spread (it’s fine if it drips – looks yummier). Repeat with second layer of puff pastry and 1/4 more custard. To slice with 3rd layer of puff pastry. Spread vanilla icing on top and pipe matchstick design
- Do the same with remaining 3 halves of puff pastry
Go Bake Yourself 