No 22 - FTC Square

 FTC Square (uncooked)

In 1979 when I left home to joint he NZ Forest Service, vast tracts of man-made pine forest marching across the NZ landscape were still owned by the State.  I started work for the government.  Our training was carried out in Rotorua where resided the main research and educational facility for production forestry in NZ.  The Forest Training Centre had one of those (even then) old-fashioned institutions – the tea lady.  The tea-lady is an endangered species.  Ours was delightful.  She served tea from an enormous enamel pot propelled from room to room on a trolley; and she supplemented her wage by baking and selling alongside the tea a few biscuits or squares.  There was one variety each day.  She came from the Keep it Simple School of Catering  - you either bought it or you didn’t.  Mind you, she knew what would sell, and most remarkably, gave me some of her reipes.  So I’ll share this one with you.

Note: In New Zealand we have a malted wheat flake ‘biscuit’ which we eat as a breakfast cereal that goes under the brand name ‘Weetbix’.  In some other parts of the world these things exist with spelling variations, but a recognizably similar name.

FTC Square

9 crushed Weetbix

1 cup desiccated coconut

4 oz  melted butter

½ tin of sweetened condensed milk (called Highlander in NZ, Carnation in UK)

1 cup of mixed fruit (fruit cake mix)

¾ TB cocoa

Mix all that up and press it into a lined sponge roll tin (about 8” x 12”).  Ice with lemon or orange icing. 

It improves with being stored for 2-3 days.