These squares combine the soft texture of cake, the fragrant chewiness of coconut and the nutty toasty flavour of almonds. If you are a coconut lover, these tasty treats are for you. They are made in 3 stages. First make the meringue, then the cake base and lastly assemble the cake. The reason I start with the meringue first is because meringues need to be beaten in a bowl and with beaters that do not have any fat on them. They don’t form into meringue well when any fat is around. Therefore I use my very clean beater first on the meringue. After that I mix the cake mixture. A little patience is needed when spreading the cake mixture into the baking pan as the batter is thick. Because the pan is lined on all sides, the baking parchment tends to shift around as you apply the thick mixture. Move the mixture using small strokes with the spatula or the back of a spoon and spread slowly so that the batter is evenly distributed.
These squares keep well for a few days.
Ingredients for cake base
- 75g butter
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 175g self-raising flour
Ingredients for meringue topping
- 2 large egg whites
- 50g desiccated coconut
- 100g caster sugar
- flaked almonds
Method
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.
- Use a 25cm square tin or a 27.5 x 17.5 cm tin.
- Line the tin so that the parchment hangs over the edge of the pan.
- Cut 2 long rectangles of paper and line the one side so that the sides run over one length of the pan. Then line the other side in exactly the same way. The both strips of paper cross over each at the base of the pan and hang over the sides.
- Separate the eggs and place the egg whites into a clean mixing bowl.
- Beat the egg whites until a stiff meringue forms.
- Add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue beating. The meringue will start to become glossy.
- Fold in the desiccated coconut.
- Keep aside while quickly preparing the cake base batter.
- Using the beater, cream the butter and sugar well together.
- Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla and milk.
- Finally fold in the flour.
- This mixture is quite thick.
- Turn the mixture onto the baking tin.
- Using a spatula or the back of a spoon, lightly spread it around so that the mixture is evenly spread, reaching all sides of the pan.
- Spread the meringue mixture evenly over the cake base.
- Sprinkle over the flaked almonds over the meringue. About half a cup full.
- Bake in a pre heated oven for about 35-40 minutes.
- The cake is done when the meringue is firm to the touch and a pale golden colour. The almonds would have deepened in colour.
- Leave to cool in tin.
- Using the flaps of the parchment, gently remove from the pan.
- Cut into squares.
