Flapjack with Dark Chocolate and Raspberry

 It has been a very busy week at work and is only likely to get busier as it is approaching that delightful time in the academic year known as coursework/exam season. Roll on the 11th June when it will all be over but until then we have to power through. To aid this, I decided to go a bit old school and make a baking classic, a good old flapjack.

Never underestimate the wonder of a well made flapjack, Golden buttery oats that are sweet, crunchy and chewy that can be eaten on the go or lazily with a cup of tea and your feet up, glorious.

A good flapjack should consist of 50% porridge oats with the rest made up of equal quantities of proper butter, sticky golden syrup and golden caster sugar. Various dried fruits can be added but these are strictly optional as is my final ingredient.

Now the flapjack is wonderful on it's own but it's even better with chocolate, but it has to be dark... milk is too sweet and white...well lets not go there.

I picked up a bar of Divine's Dark Chocolate with Raspberries to go on top, it's a delightful chocolate with little tangy bits of raspberry in it which go really well in cutting through sweet flapjack and bitter chocolate.

Ingredients
450g Oats
150g Butter
150g golden caster Sugar
150g Golden syrup

1 bar of Dark chocolate with raspberries (if using)

Method
Line your chosen baking tin, I used a 23cm Pie dish, about an inch deep.
Weigh out the oats into a bowl.
Add the butter, sugar and syrup to a pan and then melt and stir gently until fully combined and a lovely golden liquid is created.
Pour in the oats and stir well until all oats are coated.
Pour into the tray and flatten down and smooth over with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 30 minutes at 150C until golden on top
Allow to cool
Melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water then drizzle over the flapjack as you see fit.
Serve and enjoy.

Creme Egg Brownies

I am a broken man this weekend. My very soul has been shattered and my liver has packed its bags and gone on holiday in protest. Yes, I drank a little too much alcohol combined with a lack of food and now I'm suffering for it.
Don't worry though, I am on the mend, assisted by these little beauties, which I made today.
I have been wanting to make creme egg brownies for an age, yes they are all over the place but I worship at the alter of the creme egg and combined with a gooey sticky brownie then its all good my friends.

The recipe I used is adapted from Lorraine Pascale's Oreo brownies which has served me well in the past, obviously this time I omitted the Oreo's in favour of the creme egg.

Creme egg brownies
Ingredients
165g Butter
200g Dark Chocolate, broken up.
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
165g light brown soft sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch of salt

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the chocolate, set aside and allow to melt, stirring occasionally until fully combined.
Whisk the eggs with the vanilla until light and fluffy
add the sugar to the side of the bowl in two goes, whisk between each addition.
Pour in the chocolate and fold in gently.
Fold in the flour, salt and cocoa.
Pour into a lined tin, I used a large pie tin but a standard 20cm square baking tin will suffice.
Slice the creme eggs into halves or quarters and arrange over the top.
Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes at 170C (fan)

Allow to cool slightly then use the baking sheet to lift it out to cool completely.
Serve and enjoy.

I can already feel my soul healing... until next weekend.