BLUEBERRY AND APRICOT FLAPJACK PUDDING

For the flapjack lover, flapjacks scattered over a fruit based pudding, instead of the usual crumble mix, is a wonderful thing.

I used a mixture of small rolled oats, and added some jumbo oats for texture, the mix worked perfectly. Fresh apricots and blueberries would have been wonderful, but we are still waiting for summer to come and therefore, a tin of drained canned apricots and frozen blueberries were used.

This pudding isn't really a looker when it's served up and perhaps it would be best to cook it in small individual dishes. To be honest, it looked like a nervous breakdown on a plate when I served it up and to make matters worse, I topped it with a dollop of creme fraiche which my husband said just added to it's misery. It made us laugh though, which can only be a good thing.

Moving on from looks, the pudding is amazing, the apricot and blueberry combo is perfect, and the buttery, crispy oat topping on this occasion, left crumble in the shade.

Serves: 4 people

You will need: 75g butter, 75g golden syrup, 45g oats, 45g jumbo oats, a tin of drained apricots quartered, 100g frozen or fresh blueberries, 1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan/200°C/Gas 6.
2. Gently melt the butter in a small pan with the syrup and then fold in the oats.
3. Arrange the apricots and blueberries in the base of a small shallow ovenproof dish.
4. Sprinkle the fruit with the sugar and then scatter over the flapjack mixture allowing some of the fruit to show through. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden and crusty.
5. Serve warm or cold.

FLAPJACKS


Preheat the oven to Fan 160°C/180°C/Gas 4. Line a 23cm square tin with baking parchment.

1. Gently melt 240g salted butter with 180g demerara sugar and 6 tablespoons golden syrup over a medium heat.
2. Stir in 350g rolled oats.
3. Put the mixture into the tin and press down. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Leave to cool and cut into squares.

VALENTINE'S DAY AMARETTO TRIFLE

It's a sin not to eat trifle, at least once a year. I haven't made trifle for at least a couple of years, but to compensate I have made an Amaretto, berry, meringue and cream trifle, it was certainly worth the wait. The trifle was made with frozen berries, but I will definitely be making this again with fresh summer berries.



Meringues - just a few to break up. I used two large egg whites and 110g golden caster sugar, the recipe is here on Delia's website.
500g mixed berries - if using frozen, thaw in a sieve over a bowl to remove the excess juice.
4 tablespoons of Amaretto
250g Madeira cake - I made mine but again it is perfectly fine to buy some, don't be tempted to use trifle sponges though because you don't want soggy cake and trifle sponges will go soggy!
500ml fresh custard
300ml whipping cream, softly whipped

1. Place the thawed berries in a bowl and pour over the Amaretto, leave to marinate for 15 minutes.
2. Cut the Madeira cake into cubes and place in a large, deep serving bowl. Top with two-thirds of the fruit, and pour over the custard.
3. Pop into the fridge to firm up for a couple of hours then remove.
4. Spoon a layer of cream on top of the custard, arrange broken pieces of meringue on top of the cream and then place clouds of whipped cream around the meringue pieces.
5. Top with the rest of the berries.
6. Decorate with Valentine hearts.