Its that time of the year again. A real Indian incarnation of what joie de vivre, in its purest essence, really stands for. Hallways, doorways, windows and gateways, all decked out with fairy lights, fresh and dried flower torans, little diyas and tea lights. While everything around us is embellished and beatified, its only logical that we too indulge in all kinds of sweet what nots, fried what nots, and savoury what nots. All of which come with a special internal joy, rekindling fond childhood memories of gorging on all the aforementioned what nots!
The most natural sequitur is a joie de vivre version of a sweet what not – some dark chocolate and molten caramel flapjacks, on a base of brown sugar and buttered oats. What is really outstanding about these millionaire flapjacks are that the flavour combination and the textural contrasts bring out the child in all adults, and make the kids go back for second, with caramel glazed sticky fingers. It also adds a but of oomph when your freshly baked and chilled flapjacks arrive in a cute little silver etched wooden box, tied up with neon popping ribbon and a ‘Please refrigerate‘ post-it that flaps away relentlessly until you submit to its prowess and place is safely into that already bursting fridge.
These flapjacks require time, patience and love. Thats what makes them ideal for the festive Diwali season. And yes, they are totally worth the effort!
Joie De Vivre wishes all the readers, subscribers, followers, fellow bloggers, foodies and supporters, a very very warm Diwali and a extremely prosperous and happy new year!
This recipe is from the extremely nifty book by BBC Books called 101 Delicious Gifts. Cuts into 36 mini squares.
Ingredients:
- 200gm unsalted butter
- 200gm soft brown sugar
- 2 tbs golden syrup (Available on Foodesto and Nature’s Basket)
- 350gm oats (Quaker does well)
- 1/2 cup caramel (Bonne Maman is great)
- 200gm dark or semi sweet chocolate
- 1 tbs canola/sunflower oil
Method:
- Heat oven to 150*c. Line a 7 by 11″ rectangular or 22cm square baking tin with parchment paper.
- Place the sugar, butter and golden syrup together in a saucepan and gently heat until the butter has melted, stirring occasionally. Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the oats, mixing thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the tin, pressing it out evenly using the back of a wooden spoon. Bake in the centre of the oven for 40-45 mins.
- Allow the mixture to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then evenly spread over the caramel. Chill in the freezer overnight to firm.
- The next morning, cut the flapjacks into squares, with a sharp clean warm knife.
- Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, then stir in the oil and pour over the chilled cut caramel flapjack base. Let the chocolate set, then re-cut into squares.
- Store in the refrigerator.
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Feedback:
- You need to be careful while cutting the flapjacks, as the base sets and gets a bit tough to cut through easily. But yes, it is still worth the effort!
- I feel topping with a few sprinklings of crushed peanuts would also add great depth and a salty flavour.
- Use a thick caramel. I found that a pastry brush helped to spread it on the warm base.
