Louise Cake Slice – A Royal Treat

You may not have heard of Princess Louise, the 6th daughter of Queen Victoria. But, we are certain you are going to love this old-fashioned cake slice, that was named after her.

Louise Cake is one of our favorite recipes for serving at Afternoon tea.

This delightfully easy-to-bake treat has a thin layer of cake that is topped with raspberry jam and coconut meringue and then baked in the oven to make a sweet crisp coconut-flavored slice.

Ingredients

For the Cake Base:

125 grams (4.4 ounces) of unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar (fine)

3 egg yolks (at room temperature)

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

For the Coconut-Meringue Topping:

1/4 cup castor sugar (very fine)

3 egg whites (at room temperature)

1 1/4 cups desiccated coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

3/4 cup raspberry jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 C / 300 F.

Lightly grease an 11 x 7-inch (30cm x 20cm) rectangular cake tin.

In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the three egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Fold into the creamed butter-sugar mixture. (The dough will seem quite crumbly)

Press dough into the bottom of the greased cake tin.

Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven to cool for 5 minutes.

Increase the oven temperature to 180°C.

To make the coconut-meringue topping:

In a clean bowl, beat the three egg whites until soft peaks appear.

Gradually add the 1/4 cup sugar while continuing to beat the whites until they form stiff, glossy peaks.

Gently fold in the desiccated coconut and vanilla essence.

Spread a thin layer of jam over the slightly cooled base in the pan.

Spoon and spread the coconut meringue over the jam, making sure the meringue completely covers the jam.

Return to the oven on a lower shelf and bake for 15 -20 minutes or until the meringue top is a soft eggshell color.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 10 minutes then remove and cut into squares.

Want more Afternoon tea recipes?

Try our delicious Carrot Cake with crushed pineapple and Cream Cheese Icing.