I make - Paradise Slice

Said to be of Scottish origin, Paradise Slice consists of a base of short crust pastry, covered with a layer of jam and filled with frangipane studded with dried fruits. Man, let me tell you that it only took 30 seconds for me to get to the kitchen when I first saw the recipe from Baking with Granny. As a fan of dried fruits and frangipane, crispy base with fruity filling and slightly chewy top, this is indeed Paradise. 

Paradise slice with sour cherries

Ingredients

For the Pastry Base

150g Gluten-Free Flour (your favorite blend*)

75g Butter

30g Caster Sugar

1 beaten egg (you may not need the whole amount)

For the Filling

3-4 tbsp Raspberry Jam

70g Butter at room temperature

100g Caster Sugar

1 Egg + 2 tbsp milk/1 flax egg 

1/2 tsp lemon or vanilla extract

150g Ground Almonds

80g Dried Sour Cherries

120g Sultanas

Sugar to scatter on top

Instructions

For the Pastry Base:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°c. Grease and line a tray bake tin generously with some butter. A 20cmx20cm tin (or equivalent) is ideal.

In a large bowl, using your fingers, rub the flour, sugar and butter together until it resembles bread crumbs. Drizzle in half of the beaten egg and decide whether your pastry needsmore. Mix until combined into a soft pastry.

Roll the pastry to roughly the size of your pre-greased tin. Transfer to your tin, pushing the pastry into the edges. Trim the excess, prick the pastry all over with a fork and line with some greaseproof paper, before filling with baking beans. Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes to give the base a head start and avoid a soggy pastry.

Following the blind bake, remove the baking beans and bake uncovered for another 5 minutes. Retrieve the baking pan and top the pastry with the Raspberry Jam, evenly spreading over the pastry. Set aside while you prepare the filling.

For the Filling:

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until combined.

To the mixture, add the lemon extract, sour cherries, sultanas and ground almonds and mix until combined. Spoon the mixture onto the jam-covered pastry bake and spread around to an even finish, from edge-to-edge.

Bake for 30 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Once baked, sprinkle the Paradise Slice with some sugar and allow to cool in the tin. Once cool, remove and cut into your desired size.

Like most baked goods, it tastes better the day after, better flavor and texture. But I usually lay my fingers on after a few hours. 

*My blend is: 20% Buckwheat + 20% White Rice + 20% Cornmeal + 20% Oats + 20% Tapioca