ODE TO VANILLA SLICE
Vanilla slice is a classic Australian custardy bakery treat, but all too often it’s a yellow rubbery mess, with soggy puff pastry and custard so cloying that it is more reminiscent of tyre rubber than a source of afternoon delight. We use a versatile crémeux for our vanilla slice, and it is completely freezeable. Making your own butter puff or buying good butter puff pastry will make your vanilla slice all the finer. The big tip is to bake the hell out of the pastry. It needs to be a uniform deep dark brown all the way through. The darker the pastry, the more the butter caramelises, and the better it all tastes.
MAKES 8
VANILLA CRÉMEUX
300 ml (10½ fl oz) milk
300 ml (10½ fl oz) thin (pouring) cream
1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthways, seeds scraped
8 egg yolks
150 g (5½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
15 g (½ oz) gelatine sheets
Put the milk, cream and vanilla seeds in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Set aside for 10 minutes to infuse.
Gently mix together the egg yolks and sugar.
Return the pan to the heat and add the egg yolk mixture. Cook over gentle heat for 5 minutes, or until the mixture coats the back of a spoon (83ºC/181ºF on a sugar thermometer).
Pass the custard through a fine sieve. While the custard is still warm, soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, until soft, then gently squeeze out the excess water before adding to the custard. Stir to dissolve.
Set up a 10 x 30 cm (4 x 12 inch) tray, or use some foil to make a watertight tray of the same size. Pour in the custard, then cover and freeze for 2 hours, until just set.
The custard can be frozen for up to 1 week, and is easier to handle when frozen.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF/Gas 4). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Evenly roll out the pastry into a 25 x 35 cm (10 x 14 inch) rectangle, then place on the baking tray. Using a fork or docking wheel, prick the pastry all over — this will make the pastry rise evenly (and we’re not looking for masses of lift). Gently moisten with a little water, either with a pastry brush or atomiser bottle, and scatter with half the sugar.
Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven.
At this point it gets a little tricky. Place another sheet of baking paper on the puff pastry. Place a second tray on top, then turn the whole thing over so up is down, and down is up.
Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.
Remove the top tray and baking paper. Scatter the remaining sugar over the pastry and continue to bake for a further 5 minutes, or until the sugar has caramelised.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool, ready to be custified.
The pastry is best cooked just before assembling the slice.
LAVENDER CREAM
400 ml (14 fl oz) thin (pouring) cream
50 g (1¾ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
3 drops of lavender oil
Using an electric mixer, whisk the cream, sugar and lavender oil to stiff peaks.
Place in a piping (icing) bag fitted with a 1 cm (½ inch) nozzle.
TO ASSEMBLE
We normally make individual portions, as the custard tends to self-capitulate if you make one giant slice! This is how we do ours.
Remove the custard from the freezer and slice it into eight portions. Using a serrated knife, trim the edges of the puff pastry, then cut the pastry into two strips that are each about 10 cm (4 inches) wide and 30 cm (12 inches) long.
Place a portion of the custard on the pastry, then cut away that portion of pastry. Repeat to give eight pieces of puff pastry with custard sitting on top.
Pipe a ‘skirt’ of lavender cream all the way around the edge of each custard.
At this point we add some runny jam or some other little surprise, before topping with some more puff pastry.
We normally finish the top with soft fondant icing, but that can be tricky! Water icing (see the Mrs Ruby recipe) or just icing (confectioners’) sugar is what we use on this number when at home.
The slice will keep for up to 2 days, but is best enjoyed on the day of making.