Peppermint slice and Christmas baking

Happy New Year! It wasn't my intention to have such a long break between posts. Time seems to slip by so quickly when you are on a break from full-time work and enjoying spending time with your family. My computer was packed away for most of this period so I ended up taking a break from my blog as well as keeping up with the many other blogs that I read regularly. It was back to work for me today so now it's back to blogging!

Christmas feels like a long time ago but I wanted to share an indulgent slice that originated from an aunt when I was growing up. It was insanely popular amongst the youngsters as well as the adults and I have distinct memories of trying to stuff as many pieces into my belly as possible without making myself physically ill. It was a fine line and often my cousins, siblings and I would just wait another 10 minutes or so before attempting another piece.

The original ingredients for the slice were not healthy in the slightest; condensed milk, chocolate ripple biscuits, butter and Cadbury's peppermint chocolate. I was pleased that by using soy condensed milk, removing the butter and substituting dark mint chocolate in a lesser quantity, I was able to reproduce this childhood favourite. The man and son were delighted that the consistency wasn't perfect in my trial run as it meant they had a whole batch for themselves to indulge on!

I mentioned my plan to make arancini for our Christmas Eve dinner with my family from a batch of cauliflower risotto but in my baking frenzy I didn't take any photos. They turned out great with some sun-dried tomatoes, olives and a small cube of cheezly stuffed inside. I shaped them as cones, dunked them in soy milk, then rolled them in corn flake crumbs and baked them in the oven sprayed with olive oil. I also took half of the peppermint slice, jaffa balls and a salad that I wasn't overly happy with.

For Christmas brunch with the man's family I whipped up a batch of socca from Terry Hope Romero's recipe testing which were a bit tedious to churn out for a large number of people. It didn't really matter as everyone enjoyed them and there were also jaffa balls and peppermint slice to be devoured.

For our formal Boxing Day lunch with the man's family, I made Imam Bayildi for our main meal item which was nice although it didn't impress me as much as when I first made it during Vegan MoFo. I merged a couple of different hummus recipes from Appetite from Reduction and baked some pita bread to go with it. These were both a big hit! A Mediterranean pasta salad was my other contribution which I would like to tweak a little in the future.    

Finally, I would like to share my most treasured present from this year. I was extremely delighted to unwrap this apron and oven mitts from my son. He chose it on his own and knew that I would love the chillies on it! Aprons have never been my thing but this one is getting put to good use because I love it so much.


Peppermint slice (Adapted from an old family recipe)

2 x 250g packets Arnott's Chocolate Ripple biscuits
1 x 330g tin Soymilke condensed milk
1 x 100g mint flavoured dark chocolate (72% cacao)
dessicated coconut, for topping

Place the biscuits in a food processor and pulse until they become a fine powder. Transfer the biscuit powder to a large bowl.

In a small saucepan combine the condensed milk and chocolate, heat on medium-low until the chocolate has melted, stirring occasionally. Pour the condensed milk and chocolate mixture into the bowl containing the biscuit powder and mix thoroughly until well combined.

Press the mixture into a 28 x 18 cm tin lined with baking paper, sprinkle with coconut and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes - 1 hour to allow it to set. Remove the slice from the tin and cut into small pieces. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.