Chocolate Hedgehog Slice
I can’t avoid it any longer, it’s time to think about Christmas goodies, treats to have on hand to serve to unexpected guests or to indulge family when they visit.
We spent Christmas 2011 in the UK, the end of an awesome 5 month holiday and sentimental journey to the homes of our ancestors. We were fortunate that distant relatives included us in their celebrations, it may have been an lonely time otherwise.
We were served “Tiffin” that Christmas in a number of different homes. Tiffin in England is a refrigerator biscuit cake or what we know in Australia a no bake slice, very similar to the hedgehog slice my Mum used to make when I was a kid. The ingredients of Tiffin varied dramatically from household to household, but all were chocolate and all had roughly crushed biscuits included.
Last time I made my Mum’s Hedgehog recipe, I was disappointed with the result, probably a victim of memory glorification!! It was too soft and sticky to handle easily, teeth jarring sweet and in my mind in need of a makeover.
So in memory of English Tiffin and Christmas 2011, here’s a madeover gluten free, low fructose version of my Mum’s hedgehog.
250g plain sweet biscuits (I used gluten free coconut cookies)
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
125g Brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
100g butter
100g dark chocolate
2 teaspoons full of instant coffee
1 egg
Icing: 200g chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
Melt the butter, stir in the chocolate and coffee, then when it’s melted, set the mixture aside to cool a little. Roughly crush the sweet biscuits. Sift the cocoa into the bowl with the biscuits, then stir in the coconut, walnuts and sugar. Whisk the egg into the cooled butter using a fork, then stir the butter mix into the dry ingredients and mix untilwell combined.
Press into a greased and baking paper lined 30 X 20 cm square slice tin. Chill until set.
Melt the chocolate and butter together over a low heat. Pour the topping onto the biscuit base, if you like, scatter it with some finely chopped walnuts and allow to set.
Lift the hedgehog from the tin, then using a hot knife, cut the slice into small squares.
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30 comments on “Chocolate Hedgehog Slice”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
This sounds delicious. I like the idea of adding walnuts and coffee to take the edge off the sugariness! Must try this one.
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I hope you like it…
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Hello im trying to prepare for my sons birthday which is in 2 weeks, do you know of any recipes that I can prepare now and store or freeze until then.
Thanks in advance kind regards Kym
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Hi Kym, most baked good freeze successfully. The only exceptions are meringues, custards and creams. Good luck
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Can you freeze these successfully?
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Hi Bunty, welcome to PPTR. The Hedgehog slice will freeze, but because of the sugar/fat not very solidly, so I wouldn’t keep them longer than 1 month
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These look awesome! I like that it’s glutten free, not that I am, but because so many people are these days, and it makes it a very good idea for Christmas gifts for them, because as you said, it’s that time! ps hedgehog is such a cute name for a sweet!
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Thanks Azita, they are so simple to make, beautiful to look at and very delicious! Anyone restrained by gluten intolerance would be thrilled to receive a package of Australian hedgehog. ( which is really an echidna! )
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Ooh, err, the memories come flooding back.
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Yeah it’s a bit of a blast from the past!
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They look yum! With all her homecooking, your mom’s the best. And so are you!
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Aw, thanks Dolly!
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I suffer the same problem with eating and my other half. She eats I take on the calories
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It’s just no fair is it!!!
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Oh, this looks so good!
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Thanks! It’s simple to make and tastes great 😃
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Lovely! This is what the Brits would call Tiffin – a corruption of the original term, but still… Thanks for the recipe, I have a friend who can’t get enough of them.
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It’s a pleasure!
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Enjoy…….
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Wow!
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Thanks!
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YUM, YUM, YUM!!!!
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Thanks, you’d love it!
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They look too perfect. 😛 And, you said they’re not fattening? 😀
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Thanks. Haha, ……only fattening if you eat them!! My other half is 2 metres tall and never puts on an ounce, me I get fat watching him eat!
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Oh, my other half too. How vexing. 😦
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They look so decadent Sandra. Chocolate and coconut, must be fantastic.
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Thanks Lidia, they’re non fattening too (I wish!)
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Thanks for this recipe. I sometimes think we forget about those old style recipes such as Hedgehog Slice and Florentines which are easily converted to gluten free. I have some biscuits which have been deemed as “too furry” by my son, so I will use them to make the slice.
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Yes, even simple chocolate crackles and honey joys can be made over using “clean” cereals!
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