High on the hills was a lonely goatherd...

Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo.

This is one of those posts that would win an award for the worst possible food photos - sorry about that.

A group I work with has a tradition of celebrating Swiss Day with a pot luck lunch. After struggling to find a suitable traditional Swiss recipe I took a leaf out of Cakelaw's book after reading her post Red White or Swiss and opted for a recipe that involved the colours of the Swiss Flag.

This slice recipe is similar to a Louise cake except that it has cherries and almonds in it and the topping is not as merginuey because it uses whole eggs rather than just egg whites. Despite the three steps involved it’s a breeze to make and tastes delicious. You can find Alison Holst’s Louise cake recipe here

Not your Momma’s Louise Cake aka Cherry Slice
Adapted from Alison and Simon Holst’s book 100 Favourite Muffins and Slices

Base
1 cup plain flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
100 grams cold butter, chopped into small pieces

Filling
½ cup berry jam
¼ - ½ cup glace cherries – chopped finely

Topping
1 ½ cups dessicated coconut
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup plain flour
50g cold butter, chopped into small pieces
2 eggs
½ cup flaked almonds (optional)
¼ - ½ teaspoon almond extract

Method
Heat oven to 180 degrees C
Spray a 23cm square pan with non stick spray (I lined mine with baking paper)
Place all base ingredients in the food processor and process until they look like fine breadcrumbs
Press into the tin
Bake for 15 minutes
While the base is cooking prepare the topping
Place the first four ingredients into the unwashed food process and blend together until the butter is cut through the mixture
Add the eggs, flaked almonds and almond extract and blend until the mixture comes together
Spread the warm base with jam and sprinkle the chopped cherries over
Using a spoon, blob the topping mixture over the base, smoothing it out gently to cover the jammy filling
Bake for a further 20-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown
Cut into squares to serve
Refrigerate in a covered container, between layers of baking paper for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.

Now when have I ever baked something and not had to improvise a little? I didn’t have raspberry jam so instead used a product from Barkers which was a mixed fruit spread called Wild Berry Glory which has blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries and blackcurrants sweetened with concentrated pear juice. It was probably nicer than using jam because it wasn’t as sweet and gave more depth of flavour than a straight raspberry jam.


Also on offer were Swiss chocolates, cheese fondue and two fantastic pies; one a savoury cheesey, oniony concoction and the other a sweet egg custard. For the health conscious we had cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices seasoned with Knorr Aromat seasoning which apparently is a staple in every Swiss person’s pantry.