Lolly Cake

September 24, 2020

A delicious, old fashioned NZ classic. This no bake Lolly Cake (or ‘Lolly Log’) uses only five ingredients – malt biscuits, butter, sweetened condensed milk, lollies and coconut. A very simple melt and mix recipe. Great for children’s birthday parties as they are colourful and fun to eat. However, it won’t only be the kids who will be devouring this cake, as it is just as popular with adults!

The Lolly Cake slices are on a plate with plates and tea cups int the background. They are set on a pink tablecloth. — A real NZ classic. This recipe has been around since the 1940’s and is still found in many bakeries and coffee shops in New Zealand.

I just wouldn’t be a true ‘kiwi’ if I didn’t have this recipe on my website! It is very popular in NZ and can still be found in bakeries and coffee shops all over the country.

This Lolly Cake reminds me of my childhood as my mother often made this slice and I still recall being so excited to come home from school to find this in the fridge.

Looking down onto a tray of Lolly Cake slices.

What is a Lolly Cake?

Lolly Cake in some form or other has been around since the 1940’s.

It is actually more of a ‘log’ than a cake. Made with crushed malt biscuits, sweetened condensed milk, melted butter, and chopped lollies (fruit puffs or similar) which are all combined and shaped into a roll that is then coated in desiccated coconut. It is then refrigerated for several hours to set before being sliced. By slicing the log, you get to see the lovely colours of the lollies inside.

The traditional lollies used in this cake are Fruit Puffs or Eskimo lollies. They are like a firm and chewy marshmallow in texture. These lollies are hard to find outside of NZ (Australians can buy them from specialty NZ food shops) so a good substitute is marshmallows or Banana lollies or, for more colour, use a combination of both. You can also use mini marshmallows instead of chopping up larger ones.

The Lolly Cake is formed into one long log or two smaller ones. I am also giving you two other options for shaping this Lolly Cake – one is into Lolly Balls and the other is a Lolly Slice. The same recipe, just a different way to present them. I’ve included photos with a description on how to do it.

Here are some process photos and descriptions on how to make this Lolly Cake.

All the ingredients for the Lolly Cake on the bench. — The Ingredients.

The broken malt biscuits are in the bowl of a food processor. — The Ingredients.

Looking down onto two pink serving plates and two cups and saucers. On the plates there are slices of Lolly Cake. They are set on a pink tablecloth with rose petals scattered around them. — Popular with children and also with adults.

Here are two other ways to shape this recipe:

The Lolly Cake mixture is rolled into balls that have been rolled in coconut. The balls are on a plate with one of them sliced open to show the colourful inside. This shows another way to shape the Lolly Cake. — Roll spoonfuls of mixture into serving size balls and roll in coconut. Refrigerate until set.

Lolly Cake

A delicious, old fashioned NZ classic. This no bake Lolly Cake (or 'Lolly Log') uses only five ingredients – malt biscuits, butter, sweetened condensed milk, lollies and coconut. A very simple melt and mix recipe. Great for children's birthday parties as they are colourful and fun to eat. However, it won’t only be the kids who will be devouring this cake, as it is just as popular with adults!

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Prep Time: 20

Chill Time/Refrigerate: 4

Total Time: 4 20

Course: Sweet

Cuisine: New Zealand

Keyword: lolly balls, lolly cake, lolly cake recipe, lolly slice, new zealand lolly cake, no bake slice recipe, nz lolly cake, nz lolly cake recipe, nz lolly slice, slice recipe

Servings:

Calories: 177kcal

Author: Katrina | Katy’s Food Finds

Equipment

large bowl
small saucepan
food processor

Ingredients

250 g malt biscuits crushed
110 g butter melted
200 g sweetened condensed milk
180 g fruit puffs or eskimo lollies or similar (see note 1)
1/2 c desiccated coconut

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

To crush the malt biscuits: Break up the biscuits and place in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the biscuits are fine crumbs. Set aside.
To prepare the lollies: Cut each lolly into three or four pieces and set aside.
Place the melted butter into a large bowl with the sweetened condensed milk and stir. Add the biscuits and chopped lollies and mix all the ingredients together well. Make sure all the biscuits crumbs are moistened and incorporated.
Tip the mixture out onto a clean surface or onto a piece of baking paper. Shape the mixture into one long log or divide the mixture in half and shape into two smaller logs. The logs should be approximately 5-6cm in diameter. Some people find shaping two smaller sized ones easier to handle. Roll the log in coconut, pressing the coconut onto it so it sticks. Roll the log tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to set.
Remove the cling wrap and slice into 1-2cm slices. I get about 20 slices from this recipe. It is up to you though as to how thick or thin you slice it.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

Note 1: Marshmallows or Banana lollies are a good substitute, or a combination of both (a combination will give you more colour). If you use mini marshmallows there is no need to chop them up.