Ingredients
Mixture
- 15digestive biscuits, crushed
- 15marshmallows, quartered
- 15glacé cherries, halved
- 397 gtin condensed milk
To coat
- 100 gdesiccated coconut
Directions
- The name is the recipe: fifteen of each of the first three ingredients, which is why it is almost impossible to forget.
- Crush the digestives into rough crumbs, keeping some pieces larger. Reduced to dust they make a paste rather than a traybake with any texture to it.
- Quarter the marshmallows with scissors dipped in cold water, which stops them sticking to the blades.
- Halve the cherries and pat them thoroughly dry on kitchen paper.
- Dry the cherries properly. Wet ones bleed pink through the entire mixture within an hour.
- Mix the biscuits, marshmallows and cherries together in a large bowl.
- Pour in the condensed milk and stir until everything is coated and it comes together into a stiff mass.
- Scatter the coconut across a sheet of cling film.
- Tip the mixture onto it and use the film to roll it into a log about 6 cm thick, coating the outside in coconut as you go.
- Wrap it tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- It has to set fully or it will not slice. Nothing is baked at any point and the refrigerator is doing all of the work.
- Slice into rounds about 1.5 cm thick and serve.
- It keeps a week refrigerated and is a Northern Irish home-baking staple.
Technique
- It is a children’s baking project as much as anything, and it is genuinely difficult to get wrong.
- A whole tin of condensed milk is correct. It looks like too much and it is what binds the log.
- Cut it with a hot dry knife, wiping between slices.
Substitutions
- Rich tea biscuits for a lighter, crisper version.
- Chopped dried cranberries in place of glacé cherries.
Variations
- Pressed into a tray and cut into squares rather than rolled.
- With chopped nuts through the mixture.
- With chocolate digestives, which children invariably prefer.
History
A Northern Irish home-baking staple named for the fifteen of each ingredient the recipe calls for.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fifteens?
Fifteens is a dessert from Ireland: no-bake traybake of digestives, marshmallows and cherries rolled in coconut. A Northern Irish home-baking staple named for the fifteen of each ingredient the recipe calls for.
How long does Fifteens take to make?
Fifteens takes 20 min plus 4 hr chilling of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 15 slices. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Fifteens?
Yes, within limits. Rich tea biscuits for a lighter, crisper version. Chopped dried cranberries in place of glacé cherries.
What is the most important thing to get right in Fifteens?
The name is the recipe: fifteen of each of the first three ingredients, which is why it is almost impossible to forget.
