Of course, a weekend away requires some sweets. Having recently purchased my first can of sweetened condensed soy milk, I took inspiration from Steph - the vegan, gluten-free caramel slice she made for the VegMel picnic was a show-stopper. (It was a tribute to a recipe previously made by Johanna GGG; since then Johanna has returned the compliment and made Steph's version!)
The only tweak I attempted was cooking the base a little less. Steph's slice was quite crunchy and I prefer softer biscuit bases, myself. As it turned out, this slice sat in the fridge for a full week before being eaten and was coming dangerously close to sogginess by then. So my new theory is: bake for 15 minutes if eating soon, 20 minutes if eating days later.
No-one complained. This is a humdinger of a recipe, and isn't compromised at all in the process of veganising and deglutefying. It's something of an Aussie(/NZ/British) classic as is, but I'm kinda itching to try a crunchy peanut butter caramel version one day.
Caramel slice
(recipe from Vegan About Town,
adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe)
base
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup brown sugar
125g margarine
1 cup gluten-free flour
caramel
1 x 330g can soy condensed milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
30g margarine
topping
150g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a small-ish baking tray with paper.
In a medium bowl, mix together the base ingredients thoroughly. Gently press the mixture into the baking tray, smoothing over the top as best you can. Bake the base for 15 minutes.
Place the caramel ingredients in a small-medium saucepan. Stir them together over medium heat for 10 minutes, until thickened (mine didn't really change colour like Steph's).
When the base is done, spread the caramel over the top of it and bake the slice for a further 10 minutes. Set it aside to cool a while.
When the slice is cool, gently melt together the topping ingredients and spread them over the caramel. Refrigerate the slice until set. Give it a little while at room temperature before slicing into small squares.
Yummmmm! Caramel slice is the best thing ever. Our vegan shop in Bris, here, called The Green Edge - has the best caramel slice I've ever tasted.. Can't wait to try it at home if I can justify all that Nuttelex!! :P
ReplyDeleteOh mama that looks good! I had my first ever caramel slice (vegan or not) at Funky Pies in Sydney (Bondi) and it was so amazing. Rich and sweet and gooey. YUM. Bookmarked.
ReplyDeleteOh good land! This is just not the sort of obsession I need to be acquiring right now. But I can't look away. And I foresee a lot of time spent thinking about the idea of this thing that I didn't even know existed before. Thank you... I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWait, actually, everything here looks really good. I'm going to go spend some time with pickled radishes and try to take my mind off that perfect, decadent, dreamy dessert.
I posted a photo recently of the peanut butter version of this slice (well, the not vegan or gluten-free kind) that a friend and I made. HOLY SMOKES. So incredible; so yes, I support your future efforts in that regard completely :D
ReplyDeleteI love the look of this and it makes me want to go buy some condensed soy milk. Though maybe I'll wait for your crunchy PB recipe...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a great crowd pleaser - yours looks much thicker than ours but you seem to have the proportions just right which I never seem to do - I think the soy condensed milk was less dark than the dairy one
ReplyDeleteI am excited to have made my own soy condensed milk at home and recommend it because that tin is full of such junk - though admittedly far more convenient - hopefully will see you today and you can taste the fudge I made with the home made stuff!
Mattheworbit - I've never heard of The Green Edge (we're Brisbane kids originally, you know)! I wanna check it out next time I'm in town.
ReplyDeleteAngela - isn't Funky Pies wonderful? We're lucky to get their pies down here via Radical Grocery, but the cafe's even better.
Trina - it's lovely to have you stop by, I'm a long-time reader of your blog. Sounds like, just as I suspected, caramel slice isn't all that common State-side. :-)
Hannah - I remember that post. At the time I pouted a little that you weren't spoon-feeding us the full recipe (or spoon-feeding us the actual slice, for that matter).
Theresa - have you seen the condensed milk up your way? I think Johanna's got a DIY version coming up soon.
Johanna - I was rather excited to see you comment in advance of the picnic, and then taste the fudge in question for myself!