It is recipe time once again!

For this edition I would like to share my variation on the classic flapjack recipe.

Preamble
The base of the recipe comes from www.flapjackrecipe.com, but I'll reprint it here for completeness' sake (for reference, I simply used the Chewy receipe minus the banana and doubled up the quantities).

I really wanted to try different flavours with the flapjack, and what came to mind first was Lemon Curd. I thought the sharp taste of the curd would offset the sticky sweetness of the flapjack. Rather than spread it on top, getting the curd into the flapjack itself was important, especially as it'd be easier to eat without getting covered in curd.

Easy enough, and here's how I did it.


Ingredients
All quantities are metric and by weight.
500g Porridge Oats
160g Brown Sugar (I used demerara, the sort you'd use for coffee, but soft will work)
120g Butter (I used salted, unsalted will probably be fine)
80g Margarine (I used 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter', if you're curious)
4 tablespoons of Golden Syrup (quantity isn't so important here, but you want it to be sticky)
Pinch Of Salt

And for this variation, you'll need a jar of lemon curd. Jam or preserve will probably work just as well.

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C or Gas Mark 5 and grease a fairly deep baking tray with some left-over butter.

1. Melt the Butter and the Margarine over a low heat
2. Add the Brown Sugar and the Golden Syrup and stir in. Because it's the Chewy recipe, there's a touch more butter than normal, so you'll end up with a thick brown liquid with a little bit of butter on the top. At least, I did.
3. Add a pinch of salt.
4. Remove from the heat and add the Oats. I've found the best way to do this is pour in the oats a quarter at a time and mix well. Throwing the whole lot in at once will be difficult to stir.
5. Once you've mixed all the ingredients together, add half of the mixture to the pan and smooth out so it fills all the corners. Take your lemon curd/jam/preserve and spread a layer on top of the flapjack mixture. Be aware that lemon curd is a strong flavour, so you'll probably need much less of it than an equivalent jam. It might also work just as well to warm the lemon curd over a pan of hot water to make it easier to spread thinly.
6. So now you've got some sticky oats with delicious fruit on top, but we want it to be in the middle, so take the remains of the oats and spread them into a layer on top.

Don't worry, once the flapjack is cooked, the curd/jam/preserve will become warm and runny, flowing between the oats and leaving you with a lovely flavoured flapjack.

7. Place the tray in the middle of the preheated oven and bake for between 10 and 15 minutes. Check on it every 5 minutes or so and note when the oats surrounding the tray are darker brown than the rest.
8. Remove the tray, place somewhere that won't mind a hot tray standing on it and score with a knife while it's still hot and crumbly.
9. In about an hour or so, your flapjack will be ready to be sliced into pieces and distributed in a fair and just manner to friends, family members and pets. ... actually, it's probably best not to give this to pets. I don't want to be responsible for killing Fluffy Bunkins or, indeed, Mr Wiggles.

If you do try this recipe, do let me know how it turns out. Especially if you've tried jams or preserves!

Another variation I'm interested in trying is halved glace cherries and dark chocolate. Or even fresh cherries when they're back in season.

Enjoy!

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