Apricot, Sultana and Oat Slice Recipe

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  Apricot, Sultana and Oat Slice A slice built for busy days This kind of oat slice is wonderfully straightforward. Everything happens in one saucepan: melt the butter with the golden syrup, fold through the oats, flour and dried fruit, and press it into a tin. There’s no creaming, no mixers, and no complicated steps. The dried apricots bring a gentle tang, the sultanas add sweetness, and the oats give it that chewy, comforting texture that makes a slice feel hearty rather than sugary. Because it’s sturdy and not too sweet, it’s ideal for lunch boxes, tramping snacks, or keeping in the tin for after‑school nibbling. Wrapped individually, the pieces freeze beautifully — you can pop a frozen square straight into a lunch box in the morning and it will thaw by morning tea. Why slices became such a staple Slices became popular because they were portable, economical, quick to make and bake, and reliable — perfect for busy households and school lunches. Early cookbooks from the late 19th ...
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Plum Krummeltorte

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Plum Krummeltorte

Krummeltorte is essentially a deliciously soft type of sweet short pastry used to make a layered dessert - something that sits halfway between a pudding, a pie, a cake and a tart.  Its German name translated literally means Krümel (crumb) + Torte (cake/tart) so ‘crumb cake’ or ‘crumb tart,’ which fits its rustic character - a soft bottom with a loose crumbly or 'nubbly' streusel top.

Germanic baking has a whole lineage of traditional crumb‑topped cakes and desserts, and Krummeltorte sits comfortably among them. Classics like Streuselkuchen, a yeast‑dough cake topped with buttery crumbs, or its fruit‑filled cousins Apfelstreuselkuchen, Pflaumenstreuselkuchen and Rhabarberstreuselkuchen - where apples, plums, or rhubarb soften beneath a golden, 'nubbly' crumble topping. Krummeltorte belongs to this same tradition: simple, rustic, and built around that irresistible contrast of soft base and 'nubbly' streusel top. 

The pastry is easy to make and not super sweet, which makes it a great carrier for a variety of filling ideas - fruit, lemon or lime curd (check out my easy microwave lemon or lime curd recipe here), caramel, even a thick, old‑fashioned custard.  This is an imperfect forgiving dessert suitable for beginners or seasoned cooks alike, tastes delicious, can be made ahead, chills beautifully, and is endlessly versatile.

Other ideas for fillings include drained tinned peaches, pitted plums, apples, pears or dark/black cherries.  Stewed fruit such as plums, apples, sweetened rhubarb, quinces, pears.  Or try fresh, peeled, and very thinly sliced apples or pears, or other fresh stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines etc.

At its heart, Krummeltorte pastry is just a simple mix of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. With the rising cost of living in mind - especially the price of butter - I tested a version using less butter, but the result was noticeably drier and lacked the soft texture this dessert is known for.  


Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup white granulated or caster sugar

100gms butter, chopped and softened to room temperature

2 eggs, whisked

1 - 1.5 cups of fruit filling of your choice (I used stewed plums with a few drops of almond essence)


Method:

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar.  Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour and sugar. Add the whisked eggs and combine with a bread and butter knife to form a crumbly dough. Do not knead.

* If you prefer using a food processor, pulse the ingredients until the mixture is crumbly.

If you’re serving the dessert warm straight from the dish, lightly butter a baking dish and press half to two‑thirds of the dough evenly across the base. Spoon your chosen fruit over the top, then scatter nubbly crumbly bits of the remaining dough over the filling to create a rustic crumble-style top. Lightly dust with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream or thick vanilla custard (see my vanilla pouring custard recipe here).

If you want to serve it cold as more of a tart, line a 22-24 cm springform pan baking paper - across the base and up the sides - to make lifting the Krummeltorte out clean and easy once cooled. Lightly dust the top with powdered or icing sugar to serve.  A side of whipped cream is nice, but not essential.

Bake 30 minutes at 180c fan or until the top is a very light golden brown.  Err on the side of undercooked rather than overcooked.





Location: New Zealand

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