I’m collecting the 30 Best Loved Recipes mini book series although some of the titles I fancy getting more than others.  Each book features a well known food brand of 30 recipes or serving suggestions using that very product. Number three in the series was McVities Digestive biscuits a product that I use frequently in my baking whether for cheesecake bases or crushed into small pieces for rocky road.

I was intrigued to see which recipes were in this book and whether there were new ideas to use digestive biscuits. I did feel angry to see one “recipe” simply as a glass of milk with a digestive biscuit next to it. That in my book, is not a recipe, yummy though it sounds as a supper suggestion.

I had some digestive biscuits in my cupboard that needed using up.  I am always thinking up new things to bake that I can put on my stalls or donate to coffee mornings that are relatively cheap to bake and are quick to make.  I also love using fridge cake recipes as they mean you can have it setting in the fridge while something else is baking.

I looked through the book and immediately stumbled upon a recipe for Lemon and Digestive Biscuit Slice which sounded yummy.  I knew I didn’t have any lemons left but we had oranges in our fruit bowl so I thought I could try that instead. After that I looked through the ingredient list and panicked at first as I needed a can of condensed milk.  I didn’t have any, so off up to the shop I went.  Back I came 15 minutes later and was finally ready to start on my baking.

The condensed milk ended up having to be heated gently in a saucepan with some butter.  As it melted I weighed out the digestive biscuits, put them into a clear plastic freezer bag and beat them to crumbs with a rolling pin. Normally when I do this I end up with the bag splitting and crumbs going everywhere. I couldn’t be bothered to get my food processor out of the cupboard just for this.

Once the crumbs were made I mixed them in with the condensed milk and butter mixture, along with some grated orange zest. This mixture was then placed in a rectangular loose bottomed tin which I’d lined with some cling film.

I put the tin in the fridge so that the cake slice would set, it was meant to stay in there for a couple of hours to harden up. Meanwhile I made some topping.  It was like an orange flavoured buttercream which personally tasted a little bit too sweet for my liking. I think it would have been much nicer with a topping of melted plain or white chocolate or even with a marble effect!

I had to go and pick my son up from his friend’s house so before I set off I spread the icing onto the top of the cake slice. It didn’t look like enough mixture to go across the whole of the cake let alone give the icing layer any depth as was shown in the picture.  It looked okay though for eating within my family but for professional purposes I think I would have to adapt the sweetness and make up double the topping.

When I got back from picking my son up I cut the slices up into twelve large rectangular pieces. With my messy cutting I found I had to wipe the knife each time I made a cut but eventually I ended up with 12 slices.

This didn’t worry any of my family!  The cake slices didn’t last long at all. I tried half of one and found the base just perfect but the top far too sweet for my personal tastes.  It definitely was easy to make though, will try it again with lemon though.

Happy Baking!

Love Sam xx