Food and Fall

Now that Autumn has slowly crept upon us, I find myself baking a lot more in the kitchen once again.  I am stocking up on sweet wholesome treats to sustain us on a chilly evenings or after brisk daytime walks out and about in nature.  I look forward to the coming weeks.  I am in my element in the crisp cool air.

In preparation for this wonderful turning point in the year I have ordered some seasonal Kringle Candles.
I have gone for one called Maple Sugar.  This is how they describe it:

'The maple sap rises as New England winter retreats, and rustic sugarhouses boil the water liquid into a sweet ambrosia of distinctive regional character.  This fragrance is like being there.'

I have used maple syrup in the flapjacks above.* I want to tweak the recipe a little before sharing it with you as I want you to get the best possible result.  It is based on the flapjack recipe in River Cottage Baking.

As well as the Maple Sugar candle I have also ordered one called Cozy Cabin.  

'Smoke, cedar wood, maple, a hint of pine and cool ozonic notes.'

I am really looking forward to setting the scene of a 'cozy cabin'!    I will let you know in due course what I think of my new candles or if I will go back to my Yankee candles again.  Tomorrow is the Autumn Equinox.  I am ready to embrace it.

* Ok, it was unfair to keep you hanging on waiting for the recipe so I am sharing my recipe with you as it is.  I will post a 'tweaked' version another time when I have had a chance to experiment a bit more.

Flapjacks

Ingredients:

175g unsalted butter (or you can use margarine)

1 tbsp maple syrup (or golden syrup or honey)

150g demerara sugar

250g medium porridge oats

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp desiccated coconut (I have just thought that chocolate chips might be nice too!)

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas 4.   Grease and line a shallow pan with greaseproof paper.  Put the butter (cut into pieces), sugar and syrup into a large pan and heat through, stirring all the time, until the butter has melted.  Remove from the heat.

Mix in all the other ingredients and turn the mixture into the pan pressing down well.  I baked mine for 23 minutes and the result was soft and chewy flapjacks.  If you want crispier flapjacks then the advice is to bake for a little longer.

When baked, leave for 5 minutes and then mark into squares in the pan.  When they are cool, cut into pieces and remove onto a wire rack.  They may be a little sticky underneath!


If you have a go at making these, let me know what you think or of any improvements you can add to the recipe.   I would love to think of us all baking alongside each other sharing hints and tips as we go!