Michael Biscuits

[nishatalitha]

For sraun who asked.

This is a family recipe insomuch as my mother got it from a magazine and my brother adopted it (he would've been at primary school then, probably just) as the thing he could bake. None of us actually remember its real name so in our house it will always be known as Michael Biscuits.

Everything in metric because I can't be bothered doing imperial conversions, especially since I don't use them.

Michael Biscuits

150g butter
3/4 c brown sugar
1 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 c coconut
1/2 c sultanas

Combine butter, brown sugar and cocoa in a microwave proof bowl and cook on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Sift flour and baking powder and add to fudge mixture. Stir. Add coconut and sultanas. Stir well. Spread mixture in 18 x 22 microwave proof slice dish. Press firmly (a dessert spoon is good for this). It should be about 1 - 2 cm thick. Elevate and cook on high for 2 minutes. Ice when cold.

We always used chocolate glace icing and sliced it when the icing was set.

Enjoy!

Hmmm. I should get a cooking icon.

Comments

[sraun]

Interesting definition of 'using metric' - this should be trivial to convert to Imperial measurements.
I'd like a couple of clarifications:
"microwave proof slice dish" - what's slice dish?
"Elevate and cook on high" - what does Elevate mean in this context? Put on something to raise the dish an inch or two off the bottom of the microwave?

[nishatalitha.livejournal.com]

Eh, grams rather than ounces.

A slice dish. Something you make slices in. Flat bottomed, usually rectangular or square. The one we used when I was a kid was also very shallow, although I doubt that's necessary.

Just raise it by an inch or two in the microwave so it cooks all over.

[sraun]

Yeah, I saw that the butter was grams - but everything else is listed in Imperial volume units. That should make it really easy.

I think we may need a third party translator - in the upper MidWest US, slice is a verb, with the exceptions of 'slice of pie' and 'slice of cake'. I'm suspecting that what you call a slice I may call a bar or brownie. 8.5"x11" or 9" square cake pans maybe? They have walls about an inch or an inch-and-a-half tall.

[tofulope.livejournal.com]

Actually, metric and imperial cups are different. Although I never bother converting when I use american recipes, so I guess it's not that significant - or it explains the standard of some of my baking :)

[nishatalitha.livejournal.com]

Huh. I didn't know that. Clearly, I never bother converting either and it doesn't appear to have affected my baking in a bad way.

[nishatalitha.livejournal.com]

Here slice is both a verb and a noun.

I really can't be bothered measuring other ingredients in grams or mils and it bugs me when recipe books do that. Mine often end up with the other measurement written alongside.

A slice is a flat kind of cake, usually is cut into squares - slices - after cooking. Relatively dense. A brownie is more cake like in that it's risen than a slice. Not sure what a bar is, though. Only bars I can think of are chocolate or museli and it's definitely not that.

Ginger crunch, for example, is a really yummy slice. Shortcake could probably be counted as slice as well.

The pans sound fine though. Really, so long as they're flat, the right size and are microwave safe, they'll be fine. Hmm, I was going to make these tonight.

[sraun]

Does this look like a slice recipe?

SEVEN - LAYER BARS

1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. graham crackers, finely crushed
1 (6 oz.) pkg. (1 c.) semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 (6 oz.) pkg. (1 c.) butterscotch pieces
1 (3 1/2 oz.) can (1 1/3 c.) flaked coconut
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
1 (14 oz.) can (1 1/3 c.) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter; stir in crushed graham crackers. Pat crumb mixture evenly in bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan. Layer in order, chocolate pieces, butterscotch pieces, coconut and walnuts. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over all. Bake in a 350 degree oven 30 minutes; cool. Cut into bars. Makes 36.

[nishatalitha.livejournal.com]

That looks like one, yes. I tend to cut slices in squares rather than bars, but that does look like one.

I think we're finally on the same page.