There's been a lot of family input into this recipe.
Let’s start with the idea of mine to create a caramel slice
with a difference.
Version one was just okay in my opinion, but was very well-received
by the crowd at Mr Everyday Baker’s office (though I suspect they were just
hungry).
I toyed with a few changes and called my culinary mentor to
see if she could try version two, thankfully, Mum happily agreed.
Version two was good, but still needed some tweaking.
Now we have to talk about the middle lad, who is a
passionate collector of anything that takes his fancy, particularly if it’s ripe
(or not, he’s not fussy) for the plucking.
For that reason, the main vegetables to thrive in our garden
are the ones that work the magic under the soil, such as beetroot and
carrots.
So we visited our beloved Nanna Joyce recently, who has an
orange tree stocked with beautiful plump, ripe oranges.
They beckoned to middle lad and he stripped that tree like a
crazed goat at a full washing line, so we ended up with an abundance of
oranges.
We’re all dosed up on vitamin C and also, version three of
this recipe is an absolute winner… do try it.
Orange Almond Caramel Slice
Ingredients
Base:
1 cup plain flour
½ cup coconut
½ cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
¼ cup golden syrup
1 egg
150g butter, melted
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Caramel:
1 can condensed milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
100g butter
Topping:
80g almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
80-100g (up to you!) dark chocolate, melted
Orange zest, extra
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180C and line a slice tray with baking
paper.
Combine the flour, coconut, brown sugar and oats in a large
bowl. Stir to combine and add orange zest.
In a jug, place golden syrup, melted butter, orange juice
and egg. Whisk to combine.
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until well combined.
Press firmly into tray.
For the caramel, place the condensed milk, golden syrup and
butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter is melted and
it’s a nice smooth consistency.
Pour the caramel onto the base and place in the oven for
about 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.
Remove from oven and set aside, but leave the oven on.
For the topping, place nuts on a baking tray and pop in the
oven for a few minutes until golden brown.
Sprinkle them over the caramel, pushing down on them slightly
before drizzling the whole lot with melted chocolate.
Grate a little extra orange zest over the top and allow to
set.
Cut into squares and enjoy!
