08 Aug Apricot And Sultana Slice With Lemon Icing

Kids with allergies and intolerances don’t have to miss out on this wonderful sweet homemade snack.

As a mother of a young boy who is lactose intolerant, it’s difficult to find suitable cake or slice recipes, so I was excited to find this recipe in which you replace the milk with apple juice. It’s also gluten free.

Serves: About 20
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups gluten-free self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
90g butter, chopped
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup sultanas
½ cup chopped dried apricots
⅓ cup milk or apple juice
1 egg

Icing
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
15g butter
3 tbs lemon juice

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Lightly grease an 18cm x 28cm slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper.

Sift flour and spice together into a large bowl. Using fingertips, rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar, sultanas and apricots. Stir in milk or apple juice and egg. Mix to a stiff dough.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool in pan for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make icing: combine icing sugar and butter in a small bowl. Stir in juice, a little at a time, beating until desired consistency is reached. Spread over cooled slice. Refrigerate for one hour or until firm. Slice and serve. Store leftover slice in an airtight container.

Tip: You could use other dried fruits or add chopped pistachios or chopped glace ginger.

This is an edited extract from Woman’s Day Lunch Box published by Bauer Media/Random House

Words by Jane Wilkinson