White Chocolate, Cherry and Cinnamon Picnic Flapjack

I think I had been dreaming of picnics and sunshine when I made these - dreaming in the middle of the downpours! These would be perfect to pack up and take on a visit to a river - plenty of energetic jumping and splashing and a little swimming followed by a picnic sandwich lunch (with my cousins to eat the spring onions and prawn cocktail flavour crisps that seemed obligatory in my childhood) and a good slice of flapjack.

These aren't too sweet, and are a more crumbly flapjack than my standard recipe which is chewier and has a much higher proportion of golden syrup and sugar than these. But don't worry, the delicious creamy white chocolate topping adds the sweetness and sugar hit you expect and need from a good flapjack.

Before topping with chocolate

I've never tried topping a flapjack with chocolate before, but I don't know why, because these are utterly delicious. The creaminess of the chocolate marries perfectly with the slightly crumbly flapjack, and the cherries add chewiness, little sweet pockets of cherry goodness (I'm sure I've mentioned how much I love glace cherries before!). Then just a little hint of spice in the form of cinnamon. I'm not always a fan of cinnamon - it's often used with too heavy a hand, but here, that hint just works. 

I think next time I'll use more white chocolate to top the flapjack, there was probably just enough, but only just. I'd recommend 200g or even 250g depending on how thick you want it. Try it, you'll not be disappointed.

White Chocolate, Cherry and Cinnamon Picnic Flapjack
Ingredients
150g butter
75g golden syrup
35g light muscovado sugar
225g oats
75g finely grated carrot
100g glace cherries, halved or quartered depending on size
1/4tsp ground cinnamon

For the topping
150g white chocolate
40g butter

Method
- Preheat the oven to gas 3/170C. Grease and line an 8"/20cm square tin.
- Melt the butter, syrup and sugar.
- Add the carrot and cherries, mix, then add the oats and cinnamon and mix well to combine. Don't worry if it's a little crumbly.
- Tip into your prepared tin and level off.
- Bake around 40 minutes until light golden brown.
- Remove and allow to cool, but leave in the tin.

For the topping, gently melt the white chocolate and butter over a pan of hot water. When the flapjack is cool, spread the chocolate over the top. You will have to be quite careful to distribute it evenly, there isn't much spare.

When the chocolate has set, remove from the tin and cut into pieces of the size you desire.