Lemon Coconut Slice

Grandma Martin

Every Saturday morning I meet my dad at the local shopping centre for coffee, we sit and watch the most curious creature of them all, the human being, in their natural habitat.. the food court. We like to play a game where we guess which fast food out let a person will be eating from according to their appearance, I do believe that my 75 year old dad just does it for the perv. Men, they are horny till their last breath!

On one particular morning dad decided that he would like to swap his blueberry muffin for a piece of lemon coconut slice, it looked so delicious arranged neatly in a basket and displayed for the world to see. As we cut it with our very classy plastic knife and slipped a piece into our mouths we were smacked with the tang of lemon, we were hooked! From that moment on it was my goal in life to find that recipe, yet after a failed attempt of creating my own version for lemon slice and no idea where to find the proper recipe, I gave up. Just like that! My husband believes that it is not giving up but becoming side tracked, a woman with twenty things on the go at once.. a woman with a caotic mind.

It wasn't until my grandmas death that I found the recipe I was looking for. My grandma could bake amazing things out of nothing, she was a strong, stubborn woman who never admitted defeat, she raised 5 children on her own after my grandfather died and was always offering to help to those less fortunate than herself. On my return back to Gran's apartment after she had died I cooked my mum a meal and we began to sort through grandma's things, she did not own a lot, what she did own was special to her. All I wanted was some of her cookbooks, if I was going to remember my gran, through cooking was the best way to do it! Whilst sifting through a selection of books I found it in the original 1978 print of  the NMAA Cookbook, turns out busy mothers bake what they call lemon fingers all the time. Being a compulsive individual I baked the recipe over and over for a month, I shared it with my friends at meditation, I shared it with my work colleagues, most of all, I shared it with my family, my husband keeps this recipe as one of his favourites, I need to make sure that I leave him ample supply when I bake it, his drama being fighting me off for it.. yes, it really is that good!

Lemon, Coconut Slice or Lemon Fingers is a no bake recipe, you can whip it together in minutes and believe you me eat it in a millisecond.

LEMON COCONUT SLICE

50g butter, chopped
395g can sweetend condensed milk
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
250g plain sweet biscuits, crushed
1/2 cup (40g) desiccated coconut

1. Grease and line base and sides of a 28cm x 18cm lamington pan.

2. Place butter and condensed milk in a small saucepan, stir over a low heat until smooth, stir in lemon juice, set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine biscuits and coconut. Stir in sweetened condensed milk mixture; press mixture firmly and evenly into prepared pan.

LEMON ICING

1 3/4 cups (280g) icing sugar mixture
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

My Dad, my best friend

Combine icing sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat, stir until mixture is warmed through and completely smooth. Remove from heat and pour over base immediately. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight; cut into squares to serve.


Be prepared for a lip smacking experience, indulge in the tang of lemon, the sweet of condensed milk and the crunch of biscuit, the combination is bliss. Enjoy this delightful recipe, it is one of my favourites. Till next time, create, and share!