Chocolate raspberry slice and high tea

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the ridiculously delicious things I did over the weekend. I ate a startling amount of delicious food and I do not regret one thing. For a full run down of everything I ate (and did), check out my catch up post.

One of the things which most stuck with me was high tea at the Gunners Barracks Tea Rooms.

The surroundings are beautiful and the view is spectacular and the amount of food that you get makes it great value. It was $45 for afternoon tea and I would have paid that just to sit by the fireplace surrounded by beautiful Royal Albert crockery! Of all the food we ate, however, there was a little chocolate slice that inspired me.

I love it when I enjoy food so much that I’m compelled to recreate it! This slice was rich and chocolatey, but not too sweet, and had hints of raspberry in every mouthful.

Had I not already gorged myself on finger sandwiches, a macaroon, quiche, cheesecake and other delights, I would have eaten all five pieces of this slice. I don’t think my fellow high tea-ers would have been impressed that I’d eaten their slice either.

Raspberry chocolate slice:

• 200g butter
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 1 ¼ cups coconut
• ½ cup cocoa
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• 1 cup frozen raspberries

Icing:

• 50g milk chocolate
• 20g butter
• 1 cup icing sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup hot water

Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease and line a 20cm square tin.

Cream together your butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the coconut and cocoa and mix thoroughly. Finally, add in the flour, a little bit at a time until you have a delicious, cohesive batter. Pop the raspberries in and mix them quickly – don’t over-mix, you want some little chunks of raspberries to stay intact.

Pop the mixture into your prepared tin, pressing it into the corners and smoothing it as best you can.

Slide your slice into the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Turn it around at half way to ensure that it cooks evenly. Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely.

While the slice cools, make up the icing. Melt the chocolate and butter, then mix in the icing sugar and cocoa. Add the hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until the icing reaches your desired consistency. Sometimes, depending on the weather, you may need only 2 of the tablespoons of water.

Slather your icing generously over the slice , making sure you poke it into all the corners. Pop the slice in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or until ready to serve.

This slice can be made the day before you need it, and it will keep for a number of days in an air tight container. It is fudgey by nature, so you don’t need to worry about it drying out.