 They're big. There's a shivering tower of custard sandwiched between puff pastry with a thick layer icing on top. Hi, I'm Dr. Chip Van Dyke. I'm a lecturer in history at the University of Newcastle. Some of my recent research looked at the history of the vanilla slice. The vanilla slice goes back all the way, earliest recipe I found was in 1651 from France. But you got to watch out. The French are always taking credit for everything, especially when it comes to pastries.