Decadent Chocolate Peppermint Slice

The second day in a row that I ate breakfast at Vudu Larder & Cafe in Queenstown, Mr S had to run back to the hotel to get our bags after some friends unexpectedly offered to drop us to the airport after our brunch.  And so it was that I found myself sitting alone for a few moments {and obviously sans children} to pore over a couple of magazines.  I don’t recall which magazine it was – perhaps a NZ Home & Garden (?) but I took photos on my iPhone of a couple of recipes in it that looked really yummy.  One of them was a Chocolate Peppermint Slice.  I’ve never been much of a peppermint girl and to be honest, I don’t love, love chocolate so this type of slice would never normally take my fancy.  But the picture looked amazing and I decided it would be worth a go.

This week I’ve been baking & decorating sugar cookies as favours for a friends’ baby shower on Saturday {there will be a blog on this next week} so that has been keeping me plenty occupied, but for some reason I just NEEDED to make this slice last night. 

Mr S was at his refereeing meeting and I knew he’d love a morsel of this with his cup of tea upon returning so I whipped it up in his absence.  It was very straight forward even though there are three stages to it’s making.  And even though I just confessed above that I’m not one for peppermint or chocolate – this is SOOOOOO good!

Chocolate Peppermint Slice

Base

2/3 C self-raising flour

1/4 C cocoa

1/2 C dessicated coconut (I used shredded though which wasn’t ideal)

1/4 C brown sugar

140g butter – melted

1 egg – lightly beaten

Peppermint Filling

4 C icing sugar – sifted

70g vegetable shortening – melted (I used Kremelta)

1/3 C milk

1 t Peppermint essence 

Chocolate Topping

200g dark chocolate – roughly chopped

50g vegetable shortening 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Place flour, cocoa, coconut, sugar, melted butter and egg in a large bowl and mix well to combine. 

Press dough into the base of a lightly greased and baking paper lined 20 x 30cm tin.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until firm to touch.  Set aside to cool.  I was concerned at how loose and buttery this mixture was, thinking the measurement of flour or butter was incorrect, but it bakes up just fine. 

For the filling, place icing sugar, shortening, milk and peppermint essence in a bowl and mix until well combined.  You will need to almost beat in the kremelta so it absorbs into the mixture to create a smooth consistency.  The recipe didn’t actually specify melting the shortening which was odd, so I melted it and it turned out perfect. 

Spread over the cooled base; refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.  

For the topping, place chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; stir until melted and smooth.  Pour over the mint filling and place back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes or until firm.  

To serve, cut with a knife dipped in hot water, and wiped clean for each insertion.  I cut into little squares and even a small piece is decadent enough as a serving. 

Enjoy.