Christmas Crumble Slice

I made up this recipe after purchasing some festive ingredients on sale at this time of year and then realised I didn't actually have a use for them. It's kind of a cross between Christmas cake and fruit-mince pies... Enjoy. Makes enough to fill two slice trays (would also work in a large, rectangle roasting tray). PLEASE read the whole recipe first.



Combination and Assembly:
(about now a normal recipe will tell you to set your oven to Bake @ 180*C but I say "don't do that just yet unless you want to waste power". Good things take time you know and it is worth keeping the distribution of goodies roughly equidistant)

1. Line tin(s) with baking paper.

2. Whip up some tasty fruit-mince:
Butter
Brown sugar
1 Cup mixed dried friut
2 tsp mixed spice (homemade freshly ground is the best ;-)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Lemon juice

Plonk some Butter and brown sugar in a saucepan on medium-low, dump in about a cup of mixed dried friut and stir to coat. Scatter in mixed spice & nutmeg. Stir then squirt in ~a Tbsp or two of lemon juice. Keep on low until friut softens.


3. Make Shortcake Base
125g Butter
1/2 Cup Castor Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/2 Cups Flour
2 Tbsp Custard Powder
1 tsp Baking Powder

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients. Mix together until forming a soft dough. Press into base of tin(s) until evenly covering the bottom.


Innards
300g Marzipan
150g (1 packet) Glace red cherries (halved)
175(?)g Dark Chocolate (1Pk Cadbury Old Gold 70% Cocoa, minus 2 rows). Cut each square in half.
1 Cup Friut Mince (easy to make your own! Remember step 2?)

4. Roll out marzipan and trim into appropriately sized rectangle(s). Making sure the rolling pin and surface are dusted with icing sugar. Reserve the trimmings (tear into little pieces)

5. Place marzipan in tray on top of the base.







6. Now turn your oven to Bake @ 180*C

7. Arrange Cherries

8. Place chocolate pieces between cherries.

9. Dollop on tsp-fulls of fruit-mince.

10. Spinkle left-over marzipan evenly.

11. Finally sprinkle on the Crumble Topping
1/2 Cup Soft brown sugar
1/2 Cup Icing sugar
1/2 Cup Quick cook porridge oats
1/2 Cup Flour
Chunk of Butter (50-100g should do)
Vanilla of some description (I used 1/2 tsp of Vanilla bean paste =extra moreish)


Melt Butter in the same pot you used to make the fruit-mince and pick up all the
extra yummy flavour. In another bowl combine sugars, oats and flour. Add vanilla to the melted butter and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix to combine. Sprinkle away!
(Just you try and resist eating this raw. Tehehe
Bake for 20 minutes.

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