Chocolate Crunch Slice

I has taken me ages to get this recipe!  My Grandma used to make this Chocolate Crunch Slice when I was a little girl.  I think it is delicious and I find it hard to stop at just eating one piece.  In fact, I remember sneaking pieces out of the tin when she used to look after my brother and I during the school holidays.

I’ve been after the recipe for years.  I think she sent me a copy once (when I was about 10, my grandparents moved to Australia) but I lost it and then years later when I asked for it again she wasn’t too sure what I was asking about.  She sent a really old cook book over with a similar recipe in it, which I made, but it wasn’t quite the same.  Sadly, my Grandma isn’t very well anymore and has recently been moved into a care facility, so the days of sharing recipes have ended.

But, a few months back, our flatmate Harry came home from work with some different bits of baking one of his colleagues, Marta, had made.  This slice was amongst the treats and it is exactly how I remember it.  Marta was kind enough to pass on the recipe to Harry for me, so now I can make the slice whenever I want.  It puts a smile on my face as it brings back memories of my Grandma and school holidays spent at her house.  The plate in the pictures is one from her old tea sets.

Ingredients:
Slice:
3 Weetbix, crushed
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
180g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Icing:
50g butter, softened
3 - 4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 cups icing sugar
½ cup desiccated coconut

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease and line a 20cm square tin.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the melted butter and vanilla essence and mix well.
Press the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
Set aside to cool.
To make the icing, combine small amounts of the water with the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder together in a medium sized bowl, mixing until you have reached a smooth consistency. Spread the icing over the top of the cooled slice and sprinkle the coconut over the top.
Once the icing has set, but into pieces and serve.  Store in an airtight container.