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Jelly Slice
Introduction
A biscuit-like base, a citrus-y milk centre, and a jelly topping. If you are unfamiliar with jelly slice as a food item, you may be not-Australian in some manner. In the years since learning to make this dessert, I have come to discover that this is not widely known outside of Australia. This, in my casual observations, seems to be a theme of many slice-style desserts. "Slice" is not a common noun in, particularly, American dessert language as a whole, I have found. Some similar recipes as many classic slices may exist in American cuisine under different names, however I have yet to see jelly slice replicated.
Structurally, you can think of jelly slice as something of a cheesecake, sans cheese. It provides a similar textural and taste experience as a lemon cheesecake: a crumbly base layer, with a dairy-centric middle section, and a gelatinous top that adds a brightness and colour. If this idea appeals to you, you should read a recipe for jelly slice, which you are currently doing.
Before proceeding, I should note that the measurements I work with do not fit perfectly in a single baking tin. If you have a wider, more shallow tin, you may only need one, however I am limited in my inventory. I use an XXcm square tin; filling all three layers into just one of these creates much too large of individual layers, in my experience. The bottom two layers are large enough to split into two tins, however the top layer does make a reasonably-sized layer in a single tin, so I double the top layer.
The recipe
We begin with the bottom layer. Most recipes for jelly slice use some form of crushed biscuit to form a base similar to a cheesecake, however when I first learned to make this, I learned instead to make a butter biscuit layer from scratch. Either method is fine and has advantages; a crushed base provides a nice contrast against the milk layer, is a lot simpler to put together, and doesn't require any baking. I generally prefer making the base from scratch, though. The final product is a bit more dense and chewy, and melts away with each bite, which I think makes up for the extra time to mix and bake.
Since I rarely make jelly slice with a crumbly base, I don't have specific notes if you want to make it with this method. Insert the base layer of any cheesecake recipe you like; this will generally involve crushed semi-sweet biscuits (graham crackers, digestives, etc.), melted butter, and a small amount of some extra sweetener, all blitzed together to create a sand-like texture that you'll press into the tin.
To make the base from scratch, instead gather the following:
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Caster sugar
- Vanilla extract
- On the subject of vanilla in baking, I will typically measure by feel, using a recipe as a rough guide. Much like garlic in savoury dishes, more vanilla than necessary is unlikely to overpower or ruin the food you are making.
- Plain "all-purpose" flour
- Self-raising flour
- Milk
- 1 egg
- On the subject of eggs, where possible I try to use an egg substitute to keep the dish accessible to friends with allergies. One or two eggs can be replaced easily enough, but for three or more, the eggs themselves contribute flavour to the recipe and are an integral part of the recipe. I have yet to find a suitable alternative in these instances.
Beat together 150 grams of butter with 70 grams of caster sugar and a small, 1 teaspoon-sized splash of vanilla. Do this until they are creamy, either with your fork or an electric mixer, of the hand or stand variety.
Now add an egg (or what have you) and also beat this until somewhat homogenous. It may not perfectly evenly loosen up the butter mixture, but as long as the butter was soft when mixing with the sugar, you should be fine.
In a separate bowl, mix together 150 grams of plain flour and 2 teaspoons of self-raising flour. We barely want any leavening, so the slight amount of bicarbonate will be just right. Also include a tiny pinch of salt.
Add 60ml of milk (approx. 1/4 cup) to the butter mixture and combine, then fold in the flour and ensure everything is doughy.
Place the mixing bowl into the fridge to cool everything down a little. It doesn't need to be fully chilled, but a little colder will make it easier to work with to get it into the tin/s.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180℃ and line the baking tin of your choice (or multiple if need be).
If you are splitting the dough into two tins, you should have approximately 470 grams of dough, so you will want to separate them into roughly 235 grams each.
For each tin, take a spoonful of dough and place near each corner of the tin, before placing the rest into the centre. The dough may not agree with being spread evenly in the tin; you may find success with using a second tin to press the dough down, or you can use a spoon/knife/bench scraper to help. Do your best to achieve an even layer with minimal disturbances on the surface.
Send the tin/s into the oven. Normally this should bake for 15-20 minutes, however with the mixture split I typically cut the bake time in half. If the dough is evenly layered, my visual cue is browning on the edges of the tin.
Let cool in the tin.
As mentioned, the main difference between cheesecake and jelly slice is the absence of any sort of cheese making up the middle layer. Instead, a mixture of condensed milk, lemon juice, and gelatinised water is used. As the slice is a much shorter dessert compared to a typical cheesecake, with much thinner layers, it is designed to be cut into small pieces and eaten by hand, typically in one or two bites. This means we can trade the creaminess that cream cheese provides for something with a bit more bite to it. The layer will still melt in your mouth all the same, but it provides more stability as you hold a piece betwixt your fingers.
So, let's get