Lemon and Pistachio Slice

I'm a chocoholic. I grew up in a family of them and I always will be a member of this delicious club. But I've got a soft spot for anything lemony - lemon meringue pie, lemon sour cake and now, lemon and pistachio slice. This recipe is super easy (retro Bessemer or Pyrex optional!)

Dough Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of plain flour
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

                                                                  

                                                                              Filling Ingredients

60g butter

1 teaspoon of grated lemon rind

1/2 cup of caster sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of plain flour

1/2 cup of desiccated coconut 

                                                                               
                                                                                   Lemon Icing

1 1/2 cups of icing sugar

1 teaspoon of soft butter

1 tablespoon of lemon juice (approximately)

1/2 cup of crushed/chopped pistachios (approximately)

What to Do

1. Sift flour into medium bowl, stir in sugar, rub in butter, add egg yolks and essence. 

2. Mix ingredients into a firm dough.

3. Press the dough into the base of a greased slice or brownie tray.

4. Bake at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes, and meanwhile make the filling.

5. Beat the butter, rind and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until it is smooth.

6. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined.

7. Stir in the remaining filling ingredients.

8. Pour the filling over the hot dough base and bake at 180 degrees for a further 30 minutes or until the filling is set. Meanwhile, make the lemon icing.

9. Sift the sugar into a small heatproof bowl, stir in the butter and enough juice to make a stiff paste. I like a really lemony icing so I add quite a more lemon, along with more icing sugar.

10. Stir the mixture in the bowl over hot water until it is spreadable.

11. Stand the slice for 10 minutes once it has baked in the pan, then spread with the lemon icing, and sprinkle with the pistachio nuts. 

Someone stole the corner!

And now - eat!

Valentine's Day

Ahh Valentine's Day. A day either loathed or loved. Or you can be completely impartial to it, like I am. Either way I hope you had a wonderful day with a full heart. 

A vintage wallpapered heart, that is. 

Still, I was home and avoiding doing the growing pile of work to be completed (edit - by next Friday! Argh!! Where has the time gone?) and so I decided to make red velvet cupcakes. After rescuing Ruby my beautiful red Kitchenaid from her hiding spot, it dawned on me that I don't actually have a recipe for these delightful treats. After trawling through countless Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks I came up empty-handed - I love those books but I couldn't believe I didn't have one! One phone call later, and the middle sister provided foolproof instructions.

Hey girl.

My sous chef and the prettiest cupcake cases. 

The next issue facing this undomestic goddess was the icing. Thinking 'these are Valentine's cupcakes, I couldn't just use buttercream!' was probably the winner for worst thought of the day. I should have just stuck to what I know.

My attempt to make 'Silky Smooth Frosting' failed abysmally, and quite a bit of abuse was hurled at the poor egg whites. Never mind - onto 'Fluffy Frosting'. First the syrup - check, no failure there. Then the egg whites - this time they cooperated. Then ... The piping bag. Oh hello, old friend. Or should I say, enemy.

Even more abuse was thrown at the piping bag before the bag itself was thrown (with quite a bit of vigour) into the sink. Fine. Spreading it on with a knife would do.

Finished product. 

And finally, 15 gorgeous cupcakes emerged - admired and then devoured. And I was left vowing to learn how to ice properly. Just a small hurdle to jump.

Did anyone do something very special for Valentine's? Any other baking difficulties?

The sweetest Rifle card. 

PS. I've now entered the real world and got an iPhone. Follow @mynanasjoy on Instagram!