A cake by any other name ... Louise Cake

I love old-fashioned cakes, biscuits and slices. They remind me of growing up, being with Mum in the kitchen, visits from relatives and happiness. One of the many baked treats in Mum's repertoire when I was growing up was raspberry coconut slice, which she made effortlessly from a recipe in her head (which I do not have). This slice consisted of a buttery, cakey base, topped with jam and finally a fluffy coconut meringue.

I was therefore delighted when I received my copy of Ladies, A Plate by Alexa Johnston to see that raspberry coconut slice was a treat in New Zealand too - and that I now had a recipe to make it. Alexa's version goes by the very feminine name of Louise Cake, but is exactly the same as the more prosaicly named raspberry coconut slice.

To make this lovely old-time favourite, you will need:

70g butter
55g sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
140g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5 tablespoons raspberry jam (I used ligonberry jam)
115g white sugar
55g coconut

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 30cm x 21cm slice tin.

Cream the butter and the sugar, then beat in the egg yolks. Add the lemon juice, then stir in the sifted flour and baking powder to make a soft dough. Press the dough into the base of the tin, then spread with the jam.

Beat the egg whites to the stiff peak stage, then fold through the sugar and coconut. Spread the coconut over the top of the jam, being careful not to mix the two. Sprinkle the top of the slice with a little extra coconut.

Place the slice in the oven and bake for around 25 minutes or until the top of the slice turns golden brown. Remove the slice from the oven and cut it into squares while still warm.

This is a perfect tea time treat that looks and tastes lovely, yet is very easy to make.