Browsing through a few cookbooks last week searching for a recipe my husband stumbled across Louise Cake in Sweet by Ottolenghi. However after a bit of hunting around this wasn’t a traditional Louise Cake recipe, rather an adaptation. Louise Cake is a popular New Zealand bake which resembles more of a slice than a cake. The story goes it was named after Queen
Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise and arrived on New Zealand shores with British travellers at the time.
Thumbing through many recipes a compromise had to be made. The meringue topping on the slice is made with dessicated coconut and that is one thing I really dislike. Not to be put off by this I have made a subtle change, so my recipe is Louise Cake with a twist. However I will also pay homage to the correct traditional recipe that has coconut rather than my ground almonds. Whatever the history and recipe this is a Louise Cake with a shortcake base, jammy middle and sticky meringue top!
Louise Cake with a twist
Ingredients
For the shortcake base:
250g softened butter
225g caster sugar
4 large egg yolks (keep the whites for the meringue)
450g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
Half a jar of good quality raspberry jam
For the meringue topping:
4 large egg whites
150g caster sugar
90g ground almonds or for the traditional recipe use dessicated coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat a fan oven to 160c. Line a 30 x 24cm sponge roll tin or oven tin with greaseproof paper. I used my metal lasagne oven tin for this as it measured up perfectly.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy in an electric mixer. On a 
medium speed add in the eggs and vanilla extract. On a slower speed add in the flour and baking powder to make a crumbly dough. Tip the dough into the lined tin and using the back of a spoon press it firmly and evenly into all the nooks and crannies. Bake until a pale golden colour, approximately 20 minutes.
When the time is up remove the shortcake from the oven and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. Leave the oven turned on as you’ll need it again soon. Whilst the base is cooling you can be preparing the meringue topping.
Put the egg whites into a clean bowl or clean mixer and whisk until they for 
stiff peaks. Next whisk in the sugar until you have a glossy fluffy meringue mix. Set aside some ground almonds to sprinkle over the top then fold the rest of the almonds and the vanilla extract in the meringue. Fold very carefully so as not to knock the air out of the meringue. If you are wanting to make the traditional Louise Cake this is the moment you use the dessicated coconut rather than the almonds.
The shortcake base should now be cool enough to spread your jam over, 
followed by the meringue mixture. Lastly sprinkle the remaining ground almonds over the top. Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
Once baked remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin, if you remove it too soon it will lose it’s shape. Just before it is completely cool remove from the tin and cut into slices or squares. The number of pieces depends how generous 
you are. I cut mine into 15, but if you prefer smaller pieces you could get 20+.
It will store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks but it will never last that long in this house. There will only be crumbs left before you know it. So put the kettle on, grab a cuppa and enjoy a piece of Louise Cake.