Alternative names | Snot block, snot brick, phlegm cake, pus pie [1] |
---|---|
Type | Pastry |
Course | Dessert |
Place of origin | Australia |
Main ingredients | Puff pastry, custard, powdered sugar |
Vanilla slice is an Australian pastry comprising a thick layer of vanilla custard sandwiched between puff pastry and topped with icing sugar or thinly iced. Similar varieties of the dessert exist in Europe and North America, and it is believed to have evolved from one of the similar European desserts. [1] [2]
Vanilla slice is an Australian variation of many similar desserts comprising vanilla custard and flaky pastry. [1] Most notably this includes the Mille-feuille , which is believed to have originated in France. [2] Other similar pastries include the Dutch Tompouce , Polish Napoleonka , German Cremeschnitte , Balkan and Middle Eastern Galaktoboureko , among others. It is believed that the Australian vanilla slice emerged as a variety of one of these similar desserts, but it is unknown which variety or varieties evolved into the modern vanilla slice. [1] [2]
Vanilla slice is strongly ingrained within Australian "bakery culture", commonly featuring in bakeries across the nation. [2] In keeping with the informality and disdain for pretence in Australian vernacular, it is common to refer to the dessert using colloquial names based on bodily fluids such as pus, phlegm, or nasal mucus which are similar in appearance to the custard filling. This includes names such as snot block, snot brick, phlegm cake, or pus pie. [1]
To celebrate its cultural significance, an annual competition known as The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph has been held since 1998. [3] The event began after Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett visited the Victorian town of Ouyen, and considered the local bakery to make the best vanilla slice in Australia. [1] The event was hosted annually in Ouyen until 2001, when it moved to the nearby town of Merbein.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce to the thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used in custard desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla; however, savory custards are also found, e.g., in quiche.
An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apples. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream, custard or cheddar cheese. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the filling; the upper crust may be solid or latticed. The bottom crust may be baked separately ("blind") to prevent it from getting soggy. Deep-dish apple pie often has a top crust only. Tarte Tatin is baked with the crust on top, but served with it on the bottom.
Hungarian or Magyar cuisine is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary, and its primary ethnic group, the Magyars. Hungarian cuisine has been described as being the spiciest cuisine in Europe. This can largely be attributed to the use of their piquant native spice, Hungarian paprika, in many of their dishes. A mild version of the spice, Hungarian sweet paprika, is commonly used as an alternative. Traditional Hungarian dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, bread, and dairy products.
A Danish pastry is a multilayered, laminated sweet pastry in the viennoiserie tradition. It is thought that some bakery techniques were brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers, and originated the name of this pastry. The Danish recipe is however different from the Viennese one and has since developed into a Danish specialty.
A mille-feuille, also known by the names Napoleon in North America, vanilla slice in the United Kingdom, and custard slice, is a French dessert made of puff pastry layered with pastry cream. Its modern form was influenced by improvements made by Marie-Antoine Carême.
Apple cakes are cakes in which apples feature as a main flavour and ingredient. Such cakes incorporate apples in a variety of forms, including diced, pureed, or stewed, and can include common additions like raisins, nuts, and 'sweet' spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg. They are a common and popular dessert worldwide, thanks to millennia of apple cultivation in Asia and Europe, and their widespread introduction and propagation throughout the Americas during the Columbian Exchange and colonisation. As a result, apple desserts, including cakes, have a huge number of variations.
The egg tart is a kind of custard tart found in Chinese cuisine, derived from the English custard tart and Portuguese pastel de nata. The dish consists of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard. Egg tarts are often served at dim sum restaurants, Chinese bakeries and cha chaan tengs.
A Swiss roll, jelly roll, roll cake, cream roll, roulade or Swiss log or swiss cake —is a type of rolled sponge cake filled with whipped cream, jam, icing, or any type of filling. The origins of the term are unclear; in spite of the name "Swiss roll", the cake is believed to have originated elsewhere in Central Europe, possibly Austria or Slovenia. It appears to have been invented in the nineteenth century, along with Battenberg cake, doughnuts, and Victoria sponge. In the U.S., commercial snack-sized versions of the cake are sold with the brand names Ho Hos, Yodels, Swiss Cake Rolls, and others. A type of roll cake called Yule log is traditionally served at Christmas.
Merbein is a town just north of Mildura, Victoria, in the Sunraysia region of Australia. It is on the Calder Highway between Mildura and the Murray River crossing at the Abbotsford Bridge to Curlwaa. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 1,981. Merbein is 12 kilometres from Mildura, 553 km from Melbourne and 389 km from Adelaide.
Ouyen is a town in Victoria, Australia, located in the Rural City of Mildura at the junction of the Calder Highway and Mallee Highway, 105 kilometres (65 mi) south of Mildura, and 441 km (274 mi) northwest of Melbourne. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 1,045.
A cremeschnitte, also known as vanilla slice or custard slice, is a custard and chantilly cream cream cake dessert commonly associated with the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. However, its exact origin is unknown. This dish remains popular across Central Europe and the Balkans in various variations, all of which include a puff pastry base and custard cream.
The manjar blanco, known in Catalan as menjar blanc or menjablanc, is a term used in Spanish- and Catalan- speaking areas of the world in reference to a variety of milk-based delicacies. It refers to variations of blancmange, a European delicacy found in various parts of the continent as well as the United Kingdom.
Custard tarts or flan pâtissier/parisien are a baked pastry consisting of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard.
A pasticciotto is a type of filled Italian pastry. Depending on the region, they are traditionally filled with either ricotta cheese or egg custard.
Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation.
Snow puffies are a variation of a mille-feuille popularized by Paʻalaʻa Kai Bakery in Waialua. Snow puffies are a popular dessert in Hawaii often purchased as omiyage or recreated by home pastry chefs.