Growing up during the 80s, there was one true favourite treat in our family; an Aussie vanilla custard slice. We’d have them on our summer holidays – usually beside the beach – or as an after school treat, sometimes even on a road trip.
Personally, I remember eating these with my Dad; he’s a huge fan of a vanilla slice, and we’d find ourselves in rather obscure by-waters whenever we were travelling, just so he could get one ‘from a place I know just down the road’. I never asked him how he knew about that place… 200km out of our way. But much like every McDonalds location across the state of Victoria (and much of NSW), he knew them all.
Just about everywhere you go in Australia you’ll find a vanilla slice. There are some variations; jam underneath the custard, custard and cream, a dusting of icing sugar, and pink or white icing. Depending on where you grow up, one of these combinations will be what you’ve come to know as a ‘snot block’.
This ubiquitous name harks to the super-cheap version sold by some bakeries that had a green-yellow custard. This is not the recommended version!
Of course, why buy a vanilla slice when you can make one – and learning how to make a vanilla slice is super easy! You won’t need a lot of specialised equipment, just the following
Aussie vanilla slice equipment
Aussie custard slice ingredients
- Custard powder
- Icing sugar
- Vanilla extract
- White Caster Sugar
- Puff pastry
- Milk
- Cream
How to make Aussie vanilla custard slice
The actual process is really easy and straightforward. There’s no complicated steps, just bake the pastry and then flatten it. Mix and cook the custard. Spread that over the pastry. Chill, and then ice. Then we’d recommend you eat and enjoy, but the last step is totally up to you!
So, with that in mind, here’s my recipe for the best vanilla slice recipe, or the best custard slice recipe if you insist on calling it that, on the internet. It’s quick, easy, and absolutely delicious!
Vanilla Slice
Equipment
- 2 Baking sheets
- Small saucepan
- Whisk
- Measuring cup or jug
- Mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 1 pkt Puff pastry
- 100 gr custard powder
- 600 ml milk, heavy or skimmed is fine
- 150 ml cream, single
- 100 gr caster sugar
- 100 gr icing (powdered, confectioners) sugar
- 10 ml Vanilla extract
Instructions
Pastry
- Preheat oven to 180˚C.
- Take sheets of premade puff pastry on a lined baking sheet (sheets should be roughly 20-30cm square, and 3-4mm thick).
- Place in the oven, on the middle rack, and bake for 30mins, or until puffed up and golden.
- When the pastry is golden and cooked, remove from the heat, and place one baking sheet on top of the cooked puff pastry, and then weight down with a pot, cans of food, etc, and compress the pastry.
Custard filling
- Combine the custard powder, sugar, and a little milk to make a thick paste.
- Heat the remaining milk until blood-temperature.
- Over a medium heat, mix the custard paste and warmed milk, and stir until it begins to thicken.
- Once thickening starts, swap to the whisk, and continue to stir - thickening will continue to happen quite quickly, keep stirring to prevent burning!
- Pour in the cream and vanilla extract, allow mixture to 'bubble' to cook out thoroughly - not doing this will result in a 'floury' taste in the custard. The custard is done when it is thick and harder to stir.
- Remove the custard from the heat and allow to cool.
- Once cooled, evenly spread the custard over one layer of the pastry, building up the height.
- Place the second sheet of pastry on top of the custard - leaving the 'bottom' on the 'top', so you have a flat surface for the icing.
- Place in the fridge for 20mins to help cool and set the custard.
- Mix the icing sugar and a little milk, and a small amount of vanilla extract, then spread over the top of the pastry - use a palette knife dipped in hot water to help spread the icing evenly.
- Return to the fridge, and leave to set fully. Once set, cut evenly into 9 pieces.
Anyway, thanks for checking out this post on how to make an Aussie vanilla custard slice. I do hope you make one soon, and if you do, please come back and post a comment, or share a photo with the tag: #LarderPantryandGarden.
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