A Louise cake or Louise slice is a baked
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
sweet dish that consists of raspberry jam and coconut-flavoured
meringue on a shortbread base.
The
confection's name may refer to the 1871 wedding of
Princess Louise.
History
It has been suggested that the cake was created to celebrate the wedding of
Princess Louise (one of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
’s daughters) in 1871.
A recipe for Louise cake was shared in the ''
Otago Witness'' newspaper in October 1927.
In a 2022 bilingual cookbook ''Whānaukai: Feel-good baking to share aroha and feed hungry tummies,'' Auckland baker and former
Whakaata Māori presenter, Naomi Toilalo, translated Louise cake into
te reo Māori as ''Keke Rahipere Me Te Kokonati'' (raspberry and coconut cake).
Recipe
The base of Louise cake is shortbread, made from eggs, sugar, butter and flour. The shortbread layer is topped with raspberry jam, followed by a layer of meringue with coconut mixed into it.
Although not traditional, some bakers nowadays decorate the cake with raspberries, either fresh or crushed freeze-dried.
Other modern variations on the recipe replace the layer of raspberry jam with plum or
kiwifruit jam, stewed
rhubarb or
lemon curd.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louise cake
New Zealand desserts