Vanilla Slice

Vanilla Slice is one of those foods which could always be found in a bakery when I was a child. It has always been a favorite of mine, so when I found this recipe in an old Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook I decided I had to make it for myself. Puff pastry is used for many foods in Australia – the most iconic being sausage rolls – but it features in this Vanilla Slice.

To make the slice, you first start off with a 1 lb package of puff pastry – found in the frozen section of the grocery store. I bought Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheets for my vanilla slice. There was only one other brand in my store, so obviously they are not big sellers – sometimes they are hidden away, usually on the top shelf.

Each slice of puff pastry is about 9×9 inches. Place each slice on a large baking tray, lined with parchment paper.   (I had run out of parchment paper – so skipped it.  It worked, but it did stick slightly.    Using the parchment paper is definitely the best way.)   Bake for about 15 minutes in a hot oven, or until the puff pastry has “puffed” and is well browned.

Allow the puff pastry to cool slightly then, using your hand, flatten the pastry. You can use a kitchen towel or oven mitt too.   

Lay the first piece of puff pastry in your lined 9×9 cake tin.   A quick note on lining your tin:   It’s important that the foil overhangs, so that you can easily lift the vanilla slice out once it has set.   It’s quite heavy, so foil is the best option for lining.   Despite the fact that my tin says that it’s 9×9 and I measured my puff pastry to confirm that it was 9×9, I still needed to trim about 1/2 inch of puff pastry off to ensure that it sat flatly in the bottom of the tin.   

Next, I made the filling.   Sorry I don’t have any photos of this step!   Making the vanilla filling is a slow process, and you need to present for the whole time, constantly stirring, stirring, stirring.   You’ll get quite a arm workout – especially towards the end when the vanilla filling is very thick and you need to keep stirring.    Follow the steps in the recipe below for exact details on making the filling.   

Once the filling is ready, you pour it into the tin, on top of the first piece of puff pastry.   Smooth it out with a spatula, then place the second flattened slice of puff pastry on top.   Alternatively, you can cut your pastry before placing it on top the put it together like a jigsaw puzzle.    The advantage of doing it this way is that it will be easier to cut later.   The hard part is that once the icing is placed on top, it’s difficult to work out where those lines are!

Place the slice in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or overnight, to allow the filling to set completely.   Once it is set, you can ice the Vanilla Slice and decorate it.   Traditionally, in Australia, this vanilla slice would have been iced with a passionfruit icing.   However, passionfruits are difficult to find in America.   I can sometimes find them in Asian stores – and on rare occasions they are in the regular stores.   Therefore, I decided to stick with a classic vanilla icing.   The icing is more like a glaze – rather than the thick frosting that we Americans (and American imports!) place on cakes (eg buttercream frosting or any packaged frosting).   It’s really simple to make, so don’t let it daunt you.   It’s just like frosting, without the butter.   I decorated mine with a little melted chocolate – just for the fun of it.    If you want to as well, just melt some chocolate chips according to the directions on the package.   Place the melted chocolate in a small plastic bag, snip a tiny amount off the bottom edge and squeeze!   Quickly run a knife through the chocolate for a slight swirl pattern.   

And look at that!   A delicious Vanilla Slice to serve to family and friends.   I started with mine cut into 20 pieces, but you can choose whatever size you like.   If it’s for finger foods, then I would suggest cutting the slice even smaller.   If you are serving this for dessert, you may even like to cut it into 16 pieces. 

On a side note, the filling in this Vanilla Slice is very firm.    I also want to make a Napoleon Custard Slice, which looks very similar but the filling is much softer and creamier.   This Vanilla Slice also uses custard powder in the ingredients too, but the amount of cornstarch (known as cornflour in Australia) makes this Vanilla Slice much thicker than the Napoleon.   I remember getting both kinds in the bakeries – both kinds make me weak at the knees!    

Another thing to note – custard powder is not a common ingredient in America however, I often find Bird’s Custard in larger stores and at Cost Plus World Markets in America, and it’s always available at Amazon!