Goth Flapjack

[miss_s_b]

OK, it's not that goth to eat flapjacks in the first place, but this is darker than your average flapjack.

(In the method bit, I have actually noted all the places I would wash my hands when making this. Thorough hand washing is ingrained in me from having worked in a commercial kitchen; there are some people that think I go a bit over the top with this, so I wanted to know what you all think. Maybe you think I don't wash my hands enough! Do comment!)

Equipment

• A bowl to soak the fruit in, and a close fitting cover for it, or clinging film if you haven't got a cover that fits.
• A big mixing bowl
• A saucepan
• Awesome ginger grating saucer thing. Or, you know, a normal grater if you haven't got one of those.
• A wooden spoon
• Weighing Scales
• Oven
• Flat-bottomed deep baking tray or roasting tin
• Greaseproof paper
• Airtight container for storing it in

Ingredients

• 800g oats
• 400g butter
• 400g Muscovado sugar
• 400g honey
• About an inch of fresh ginger root
• 200g Raisins or sultanans
• Something to soak the raisins or sultanans in

Method

• The day before you want to cook this, put the raisins in to soak. I used whisky, but you can use juice or tea. Just soak them in something. Soaked raisins are way nicer.
• If you use booze, it's extra important to cover the bowl you are soaking them in so it doesn't just all evaporate, but even if you don't use booze I'd cover it anyway to prevent critters.
• Once your fruit has soaked for at least 24 hours, wash your hands.
• Drain the excess soaking liquid off and drink it (now you see why I used whisky ;) )
• Put your oven on to preheat at 180^oc/360^of/gas mark 4
• Wash your hands.
• Line your baking tray/roasting tin with the greaseproof paper.
• Put the oats and the soaked raisins in your big mixing bowl.
• Put the butter, muscovado sugar, and honey in the saucepan and heat gently
• Wash your hands.
• Grate the ginger into the saucepan, and stir gently with your wooden spoon as the butter melts.
• Keep stirring and heating gently. You should eventually end up with an almost black, smooth liquid. It will be very hot. Don't test it with your finger. Not even if you drank the whisky and now feel invincible.
• Pour this into your large mixing bowl, on top of the oats and raisins.
• Stir with your wooden spoon till you can see no uncoated oats.
• Tip the mixture into your lined baking tray.
• Wash your hands.
• Press it down with your hands. Yes, this means you get flapjack mixture on your hands. Don't worry, you can lick it off when you're done. This is one of the reasons why we have been so fastidious about handwashing.
• Make sure it goes into all the corners of the baking tray and is reasonably flat on top.
• Wash your hands.
• Put it in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
• Leave to cool completely before giving your hands one final wash and cutting it into portions.
• Store in a cool dark place in something airtight - Tupperware is good, or a proper biscuit tin.

Comments

[norfolkian]

OMG, that sounds so yummy!

I agree on your handwashing, especially with something gooey like flapjack. I would probably wash my hands a similar amount of times. But I have also been told I wash my hands too much and sometimes I make them dry and chapped through handwashing. I always wash them a lot when cooking, but I have also noticed that I tend to wash them more generally when anxious/stressed. :/

[miss_s_b]

When not in the kitchen, I go through a reasonable amount of Lush Helping Hands

[norfolkian]

Thanks. I am not good at knowing about things like creams and lotions, so recommendations are welcome. :)

[miss_s_b]

No probs. There are some issues with Lush being not quite so ethical as they like to paint themselves; they're still better than 99 of other cosmetics firms tho.

[st_aurafina]

These sound so great. All that ginger, yum.

[miss_s_b]

I am having great difficulty not eating them all and doing a gingery oaty explosion