makes
14
prep
15 minutes
cook
25 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
14
serves
preparation
15
minutes
cooking
25
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 250 g (9 oz) crushed lemon shortbread crumbs (see below)
- 200 g (7 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 80 g (2 ¾ oz) unsalted butter, melted
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) desiccated coconut
Lemon coconut shortbread
- 90 g (3¼ oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 45 g (1½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- Pinch of salt
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 140 g (5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 20 g (¾ oz) desiccated coconut
Limoncello icing
- 300 g (10½ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar
- 50 g (1¾ oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 50 ml (1¾ fl oz) limoncello
Chilling time: 1-2 hours (ideally overnight).
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) fan-forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper or silicone baking mats, and line a 20 cm (8 inch) square cake tin with baking paper.
- Start by making the lemon coconut shortbread. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, caster sugar, egg yolk and salt until smooth. You don’t need to aerate this mixture, just get it nicely combined. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, flour and coconut and mix until just combined. Best part about this shortbread? No rolling out or cutting out shapes! Just press the dough onto the baking tray and bake for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the shortbread to cool.
- Crush the shortbread with your hands – I like to keep a few larger pieces in there for texture, but you can also use a food processor to blitz it to breadcrumb consistency.
- Transfer 250 g (9 oz) of the shortbread crumbs to a bowl and add the condensed milk, melted butter and coconut. Mix to combine, then press the mixture into the cake tin in an even layer. Place in the fridge while you prepare the icing.
- For the icing, combine the icing sugar, butter and limoncello in a bowl and whisk until completely smooth. The icing should be thick and spreadable. Spread the icing over the shortbread base and return it to the fridge to set completely – overnight is best, but 1–2 hours should also do the job. Cut the chilled slab into 3 x 9 cm (1¼ x 3½ inch) bars.
Note
You could replace the limoncello with lemon juice to make these kiddie friendly. But it’s about time we baked treats just for us, don’t you think? Another great substitution: Aperol with orange. Dreamy.
Images and text from by Emelia Jackson (Murdoch Books RRP $39.99), photography by Armelle Habib, illustrations by Andrea Smith.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
