What Was Your Childhood Vanilla Slice Like?

"Thick and rich custard between puff pastry sheets makes a wonderful snack or dessert."

The name is unassuming, but the Vanilla Slice is an almost iconic dessert in Australia. Much like the chocolate chip cookie in the US, you can find it just about anywhere that pastries are sold, from coffee shops to bakeries. There is even a big competition held every year to find the best slice in the country! Much like chocolate chip cookies, there are just about as many ways to make vanilla slices as there are people to eat them.

Is this an elegant French mille feuille?

Not the Continental or Napoleon with those layers of pastry and custard topped with cream. This is about the no-nonsense slice: creamy custard sandwiched between two layers of pastry with a icing on top.

However, from pink, white or yellow raspberries, vanilla or passion fruit ... Different places, icing will be different. Maybe it's related to their respective regions, maybe it's simply the taste that the baker brings.

Ask a Sydneysider and they will say it has got to be fresh passionfruit icing and flaky pastry, with the passionfruit giving a sharp taste so the icing will not be too sweet.

Icing and cutting - this was all done while the slice was still cold.

The shape of the slices is usually square, and the custard is deliberately thickened to facilitate slicing. We specially prepared ultrasonic food cutting tools to ensure that the cuts are beautiful and perfect to reach unblemished squares or rectangles.

Written by Sophia Chen