Lemon slice

This lemon slice is a traditional Australian no bake bar with a coconut-cookie base and lemon frosting. It's really easy to make, with a wonderful sweet-tart flavor and perfect for so many occasions.

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As we were looking in to possibly moving to Melbourne for a little while, naturally I did some research to learn more about the city. And of course high up on my list was the food options.

I didn't particularly look at the fine dining, though Melbourne is meant to be have a good range (but hey, young kids). What appealed to me was the range of cuisines and many cafes. 

Melbourne is a huge coffee city. In fact, I believe the "flat white" is meant to be a Melbourne creation. You'll find cafes everywhere and pretty much all of them, from those I have tried so far, have really good coffee. 

While you may just pop in for a quick caffeine hit, it's all too easy to fall for the sweet goods on offer. Some are similar to what you'd find in many other parts of the world, like croissants, muffins and brownies, but others are uniquely Australian, like lamingtons and slices.

What is an Australian slice?

One item you'll find in many cafes and bakeries in Australia is one or more kind of "slice". Slices are similar to what would be called a bar cookie in the US, or a tray bake in the UK.

Australian slices are typically made in a slightly deeper baking sheet/tray then cut them into pieces. They come in many varieties, some baked (like my chocolate slice) while others are no bake. 

Some slices certainly seem to have British origins, and some like chocolate caramel slice is essentially the same as millionaire's shortbread, popular in Scotland (where it likely originates). Vanilla slice, meanwhile, which is similar to a napoleon in the US, more likely comes from the French mille-feuille.

Many slices, though, are quite definitely Australian, whether based on classic Aussie cookies or an otherwise original creation like jelly slice. A lot are recipes you would make and serve at home or bake sales. You'll find recipes shared through the likes of the popular Australian Women's Weekly and down family generations.

Cafes often have one or more on offer, some classics and others their own creations. This tasty slice is one I've seen a few times, and I understand why it's a favorite.

You'll find a couple different variations of lemon slice, some more like lemon bars but more common is this no bake version using coconut in the base. It's sweet with that wonderful tart lemon edge and perfect to make at home since it's really easy.

I've made a smaller batch here in a lined baking dish as that suits our needs better, but you can easily scale this up as needed.

Tips for making lemon slice

While really easy, here are a few tips for making them:

• The exact dimensions of your dish don't matter, it's about having a similar area. You can scale up the recipe as suits, just multiply the recipe to match the increase in area of your dish. So for example if it's around double the size, even if different dimensions, double the recipe.
• Butter then line the baking dish or baking sheet/tray with parchment to make it easier to take out. The butter under the parchment helps the paper stay in place better.
• Prepare the dry ingredients then melt the butter and condensed milk together. The mixture can boil, but don't let it scald.
• Press the base mixture into the dish evenly, right into the corners, and flatten the top.
• Thicken the frosting with extra confectioner's/icing sugar as needed. Alternatively, you may just need to wait a little longer for the top to firm up before cutting. (You might see I rushed a little!)
• It's easiest to take the whole slice out of the mould before cutting. Then, cut into pieces whatever size you like.

While these are typically made with Marie biscuits (cookies) that's very common in Australia, you may not find them elsewhere. However you can make them with other relatively plain cookies/biscuits such as graham crackers in the US or digestive biscuits in the UK (although you can typically find Marie biscuits there).

Similarly, I've used desiccated coconut as that's more common in Australia but in the US, if you can't find that easily, unsweetened shredded coconut is fine as well.

This lemon slice is easy to make, easy to scale up for a crowd and full of delicious flavor. It was an instant favorite in our house and we can understand why it's an Australian classic. Give it a try and enjoy!

Try these other tasty no bake treats:

• Carrot cake energy bites
• No bake pumpkin cookies
• No bake chocolate custard with ginger
• Plus get more snack recipes, both sweet and savory, in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

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