From my diary.....
Feb 22 2017
CAUTION!!!! Only read ahead if you are having a bad day and need a little cheering up at my expense. 😜
So…. After visiting with my friend this morning to deliver some baby items for a new arrival due next week, I was inspired by the ease at which the 38 ½ week expecting Mumma to be, was able to whip up a delicious looking slice with next to no effort. I determined then and there I was going to try this “Lazy Caramel Slice” (from TRTLMT) as soon as I returned home because the name appealed to me more than anything else.
Upon my return home, I checked the clock and noticed I had ½ an hour before I would need to feed myself and 2 yr old some lunch. No worries…. It took her less than 10 mins to get it into the oven, I should be right. I found her recipe and proceeded to add ingredients to my thermomix, noting that she had mentioned that she doubled the recipe to get more out of it. As I added the coconut it did occur to me that it seemed a lot but I trusted and moved on to add the flour.
1/3 of the way into measuring the flour my toilet training 2 year old announced that he needed to do wee-wee. I left my cooking to attend to the matter only to discover that it was too late and it wasn’t in fact a wee. After attending to his needs, cleaning out his underwear and the floor and searching for a set of clothing in the huge pile of folding, I eventually made it back to continue my baking only to discover that the scales had timed-out and I had no idea how much flour I had already added.
My quick thinking had me pulling out my spare bowl and, using my awesome maths skills, was able to deduct the weight of the empty bowl and the weight of the coconut already in the existing bowl from the total weight and was able to add the remaining flour.
At this stage the bowl is almost at max height and I begin to wonder if I was reading the recipe correctly. Yes I had been doubling fine….. But wait….. She had only added 1 tin of condensed milk and that is what the recipe actually asks for……(I remembered that because my friend had mentioned not wanting to waste half a tin and that was her reason for doubling.) After finally realising that the recipe was in fact, already doubled, I continued to add the next ingredient with the intent to mix it in and then split the mixture into the 2 bowls before completing the next step. No worries. Until, I opened the lid to scrape down the edges and some of the ingrdients fell out of the bowl and down the thermomix and onto the bench. Never mind…. I cleaned it up! A little more blending and then lifted the lid to scrape down again, Oops!!! I forgot about the overflow! Never mind… A second wipe down doesn’t hurt. A final mix and this time I was prepared and scraped down through the hole in the top before lifting the lid. Awesome!!! I placed the spare bowl in the thermomix and proceeded to tip half of the mix in the new bowl. Hmmmm! It came out faster than intended and some ended up down the thermomix and onto the bench. Seriously!!!! I’ll clean that later.
I proceeded to continue adding and mixing, as per recipe, in 2 seperae batches. Phew!!! Good recovery.
Knowing I would need a larger tray than my normal slice tray I tipped the mix in the tray, pressed it down, and added the rest of the ingredients on top, all while balancing my cranky and hungry toddler on my hip, because I had taken a good 25 mins to get to this stage. It occurred to me as I was placing it in the oven that I may have needed a taller tray and I hoped it wouldn’t rise too much. I crossed my fingers and began the tidy up.
About 12 mins into the cooking I noticed a burning smell and checked how my baking was going. I should have used a taller baking tray!!!!! Never mind… the oven was due for a clean anyway.
Wondering how long I needed to bake it for, I decided to check the recipe. That’s when I discovered a footnote letting me know that if I wanted to double the recipe I should add less than double the condensed milk and bake in a lamington tray. Good to know!!!! Wish I had read that before!!!
After the required baking time and not taking my eyes from the oven in case the burning smell turned into something more nasty and left me wishing I had remembered to purchase a fire extinguisher for the kitchen, I finally removed a somewhat unusual looking slice from the oven, which I left on the bench to cool, while I proceeded to place the oven racks and trays in the bath tub to soak for awhile and I went back to clean the inside of the oven.
3 hours after starting to bake my Lazy Caramel Slice, I have a thoroughly clean Thermomix, bench top, oven and surrounding floors, the trays are still soaking (probably meaning the bathtub will need a clean later also) dishwasher is stacked and a slice is waiting to be portioned for storage. I do hope it freezes, cause even with my family it will take a bit of eating to get through it all. I have also renamed the slice.
Later I hope to sit down and enjoy a piece of “Not so lazy, time consuming, hopefully will taste ok, Caramel Slice”
You can find the recipe for the Lazy Caramel Slice here http://www.trtlmt.com.au/lazy-caramel-slice/
📷 credit - unknown