Chocolate Peppermint Slice

A four layer "festive" treat that works in any season.

This recipe comes from the same baking book as the caramel slice, and there is a similarity between the two recipes in that they both use coconut where you would not expect it. As with the caramel slice, I have done a bit of tweaking to this recipe over the years to enhance the flavour and eliminate the nasty crap component of vegetable shortening. You don't really have to make the last white chocolate topping, but I find it really adds to the excellence of the result. This recipe also uses an entire 250g block of butter when greasing a pan is accounted for, which is quite satisfying. I have only included gram measurements because the original cup measurements are waaaay off.

Ingredients:

For the Base:

140g unsalted butter

30g cocoa powder

45g desiccated coconut

60g caster or granulated sugar

1 egg

90g self raising flour

For the Peppermint Layer:

30g unsalted butter

2 Tbsp cream (double or single is fine)

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

185g icing sugar, sifted

For the Chocolate Topping:

200g plain chocolate (50-70% is fine)

30g unsalted butter

For the White Chocolate Topping:

200g white chocolate, chopped

30g unsalted butter

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Instructions:

For the Base:

Preheat an oven to 180˚C/350˚F

Grease and flour an 8 x 8in pan or similar, and line with parchment paper.

I use my 8 x 8in silicone pan

In a double boiler, using a large bowl, melt the butter over a medium low heat.

Stir in the cocoa powder, desiccated coconut and sugar, followed by the egg and flour last.

Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan, and bake for 15 minutes.

When it comes out of the oven, press down the baked base evenly and let cool on a rack.

For the Peppermint Layer:

In a double boiler, melt the butter along with the cream.

Stir in the peppermint extract, and then the icing sugar.

Spread over the base in an even layer, and refrigerate for 5-10 minutes or until cool.

For the Chocolate Layer:

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler.

Spread over the peppermint layer and leave to cool.

For the White Chocolate Layer:

Melt the white chocolate and butter together in a double boiler.

Stir in the peppermint extract.

Spread over the chocolate layer and leave to cool completely.

Refrigerating overnight will yield the best results.

Cut into desired sized slices and enjoy (in moderation)!

When you bring it out of the pan, you can see all four layers: