GF DFO
Yields about 20 pieces
This slice (or traybake as they are sometimes called in other parts of the world) was an impromptu creation when I was making morning tea for our church and had lots of apricots and apricot jam available to use. I have made this with both white and brown rice flour and it works well with either, so choose your preference – brown rice flour just gives it slightly more of an earthy, wholegrainy flavour. This is quite a crumbly slice – this doesn’t seem to be a problem for anyone who I’ve given this to (or maybe they’re too polite to comment!) but you can add ½ teaspoon of xanthan gum at the same time as you add salt if you want to reduce crumbliness.
What you need:
210 grams of almond meal
125 grams of brown rice flour or white rice flour
125 grams of tapioca starch
125 grams of light brown sugar
10 grams of baking powder (check this is gluten free if necessary)
3 grams of salt (about half a teaspoon)
140 grams of salted butter (for dairy free, substitute dairy free spread)
1 egg
2 cups of apricot jam (about 500 mls, I used my homemade apricot and vanilla jam)
1 – 2 teaspoons of icing sugar (optional)
What to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking pan with baking paper (my baking pan measures about 23 cms by 28 cms but any similar size will work).
2. Place the almond meal, rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl and mix briefly to combine.
3. Add the butter to the bowl and rub into the other ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Add the egg to the bowl and mix thoroughly into the flours/sugar/butter mixture until a firm dough is created.
5. Place about two thirds of the dough in the lined baking pan and spread and flatten (I used clean hands for this) into a level layer at the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the middle of the preheated oven for about 15 minutes to part-bake the base.
6. Remove the pan from the oven (do not turn off the oven) and place on a heatproof surface.
7. Spread the apricot jam evenly on top of the baked dough layer at the bottom of the pan. Take small balls of the remaining third of dough and flatten them into roundish shapes and then dot the shapes on top of the jam in a patchwork-type pattern. It does not matter if the shapes overlap each other nor if there are small areas where the jam is uncovered.
7. Place the baking pan back into the middle of the preheated oven and bake for a further 30 minutes or until the top of the slice is dark golden brown.
8. Once baked, remove the slice from the oven and lightly dust the top with icing sugar (if using) while the slice is still hot.
9. Place the slice in the pan on a cooling rack to cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, cut the slice into 20 equal-sized pieces and take each piece out of the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
10. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or store in the freezer for later use.
11. Enjoy!
Some, Some and Some 