Pineapple Slice

You may know that people who live in Queensland are called banana benders by those naughty people in southern States.  Apart from bananas, this State is also known for its pineapple farms, and sunshine.  And tropical fruits and macadamia nuts and seafood; well, the list goes on.

When Summer rolls around (not that it ever really leaves), fruit and cool salads are the go.  You could peel and finely dice the pineapple for this recipe yourself, but on a hot summer's day the least amount of time in the kitchen appeals so use tinned like I did. You can also buy already peeled and diced fresh chunks in the supermarkets these days so go for that version if you want it less sweet.

sweet and tangy pineapple slice

I have pretty much used the recipe from The Kitchen Magpie's blog, but tweaked it a bit to suit modern tastes and methods.  It is her grandmum's recipe and uses margarine (eek!) in the crust and filling.  She also melts the margarine for the crust but I have gone the Nigella route and just blitzed softened butter with the biscuits in a processor.  So much quicker and easier.  And then use the same processor bowl (no need to wash) for the filling.  I decided to add lemon zest and juice to cut the sweetness, as the original recipe is very sweet for modern tastes.




ingredients:


Crust:

250g. of Granita or Shredded Wheatmeal biscuits

125g. butter, softened (not melted)

2 tbs almond meal

1 tbs sugar

Filling: 

200-250g. icing sugar, depending on how sweet you like it

120g. butter, softened

125g. Philly cream cheese, softened

zest of half a lemon

1-2 tbs lemon juice


Topping:

1 cup of thickened cream, whipped till soft peaks form

1 tin (440g.) of crushed pineapple, drained very well


Method:

Throw the broken-up biscuits into a large food processor

Add the butter, almond meal and sugar

Blitz well till you have fine crumbs

Press 2/3 of the mixture into a lined baking pan - you can use a 20cm X 20cm square one or a 23cm round tin

Bake for 8-10 mins. at 150C (300F) till golden

Let it cool completely while you make the filling

Wipe the bowl of the processor out with kitchen paper; no need to be too precious if a tiny bit stays in the bowl

Place the icing sugar, butter, cream cheese, lemon zest and juice into the processor and blitz till very smooth

Tip this into the cooled crust and level out with a spatula

Put it into the fridge for half an hour to settle down

Whip the cream and stir in the very well-drained pineapple

Take the pan out of the fridge and spoon on the cream and pineapple topping

Smooth it out and scatter the rest of the buttery crumb mixture over the top

Refrigerate overnight if possible but at least 6 hours


Notes:


Use only 200g. of biscuit crumbs if you like a thinner crust - which I do and did

The filling is very sweet so I suggest using only 200g. icing sugar

gather your ingredients

tip the blitzed biscuits into your lined pan  

levelled out and ready for baking 8-10 mins @150C  

baked and cooling 

now blitz the filling 

blitz till smooth

spread the filling over the biscuit base

smooth over the filling

spread the topping over the filling

scatter the reserved crumb mix over the top and chill overnight  

my pineapple doodle