Vegan lemon slice for a modern afternoon tea

Have you been watching the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London? I hadn't thought much about them in the lead up to this week, but the news footage over the last few days has drawn me in. I found the progression of boats on the Thames particularly impressive, along with the general atmosphere of celebration in London and across the country. Even my grandparents, who aren't royalists by any stretch of the imagination, have decked out their house in East Sussex with flags and decorations. I guess 60 years doing one job is an impressive feat, royalty or not!

I suspect the Queen partakes in traditional afternoon teas, with scones and dainty sandwiches and perhaps some iced bun or small cakes. I had vaguely thought of making scones to honour her jubilee this week, mostly because I have been meaning to make them for some time and this seemed like as good an occasion as any. However, I am still obsessed with lemon, and after my recent bookclub lemon tart I have been thinking of ways to justify more lemon desserts.

I settled on this lemon slice. Slightly less decadent than tart, it is easy to justify as an afternoon tea snack. The lemon topping is the core component, with the flavours being strong and both sweet and tart. The base is more laid back, just barely sweet, and uses oats rather than standard flour. I found that the combination of the sweet topping and less sweet base worked well, and it helped to avoid the overpowering sweetness that I tend to associate with commercial lemon slices.

I'm not sure if it would be fit for a queen, but it is certainly proving to be fit for me.

Lemon slice

Adapted from the lemon almond torte in The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes

Vegan

Makes 1 loaf tin of slices - about 14 small pieces - with some lemon topping left over

Print recipe

Ingredients

For the base

1 cup oats

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp non-dairy spread, margarine or butter, melted

Up to 1 tbsp water, as needed

For the lemon topping

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Juice and rind from 1 large lemon - about 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 tsp grated lemon rind

Method

For the base

Preheat the oven to 180'C.

In a food processor, process the oats until crumb-like in texture (see above picture). Combine with the sugar and melted butter and mix well to combine. Add some water if necessary to bring the mixture together.

Line a loaf tin (or small square tin) with baking paper and press the base mixture into the bottom. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until golden.

For the filling

While the base is baking, combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Whisk together and then bring to the boil whilst stirring constantly. Then lower heat and continue to stir until thickened, about 5 minutes.

When the mixture has thickened, mix in the lemon juice and zest and leave over low heat, stirring regularly, for a further 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture should start to bubble in the centre.

Remove filling from heat and pour into a bowl. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally.

To make the slice

When the base and filling have cooled, pour most of the filling (about 3/4 of the mix) over the base, and then set in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours. Slice before serving.

The remaining mix can be frozen for later use (and is enjoyable from the freezer, as it doesn't set solid) or used as lemon spread for other products.

I made the lemon topping for this slice thicker than the filling of the recent lemon tart, as I was aware that the base wouldn't provide much of a crust to hold the topping in place. It seemed to work well, and I have found the slice to pair nicely with strawberries, plain yoghurt, or just a cup of tea.

What are you enjoying for afternoon tea at the moment?

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