Alright, so I tried making this ‘candy wife flapjack’ thing the other day. Sounded… interesting. Not sure where the name came from, but flapjacks are usually decent, right? Thought I’d give it a whirl and see what happened.
Getting Stuff Ready
First thing, got the oven going. Standard stuff, nothing fancy, maybe 180C, something like that. Found a square tin, maybe 8-inch size? Greased it up with a knob of butter, then lined it with baking paper. Always makes getting the finished stuff out easier later. Saves scrubbing that baked-on sugar, mostly.
Then, the ingredients. Had to rummage around a bit but got the usual flapjack suspects together:
- Butter, a decent chunk
- Brown sugar, the soft kind
- Golden syrup, that sticky stuff
- Oats. Lots of oats. Used the regular rolled oats I had.
And the ‘candy wife’ bit. This was guesswork. I just grabbed a load of random chewy sweets – you know, the fruity ones – and some colourful chocolate beans I had lingering in a jar. Chopped ’em up roughly. Figured ‘candy wife’ meant something ridiculously sweet and maybe a bit over the top. Seemed like the right approach for that weird name.
Melting and Mixing
Chucked the butter, sugar, and syrup into a heavy-bottomed pan. Stuck it on a low heat. Melted it all down slowly. Gotta watch it, because sugar burns fast and tastes nasty. Nearly caught it once last time I made regular ones. Stirred it gently until it was all smooth and liquid gold. Smelled pretty good already, have to admit. That buttery, syrupy smell.
Took the pan off the heat as soon as it was melted. Didn’t want it boiling away. Tipped in all the oats. Gave it a real good mix with a wooden spoon. Wanted all those oats coated nicely in the sweet stuff. Then, carefully folded in most of the chopped sweets and chocolate beans I’d prepared. Saved a handful back for the top, just for looks.
Baking Time
Spooned the sticky oat mixture into the tin I prepped earlier. It was quite claggy. Pressed it down firmly with the back of the spoon. Tried to get it even across the whole tin. This bit’s important, apparently stops it falling apart later when you cut it. Or that’s the theory, anyway. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Sprinkled the rest of the reserved sweets and chocolate bits over the top. Looked messy, but definitely colourful. Into the preheated oven it went.
Baked it for, I don’t know, maybe 20 minutes? Maybe 25? Didn’t time it exactly. Just kept an eye on it until it looked golden brown around the edges and mostly set in the middle. The whole kitchen started smelling super sweet while it baked. Probably the candy bits melting a bit on top.
The Waiting Game and The Cut
Pulled the tin out of the oven using gloves. Smelled intensely sweet. Now, the hard part. You absolutely gotta let it cool down completely in the tin. Seriously. If you try and cut it while it’s still warm, it just crumbles into a sad, sticky oat pile. Learned that the hard way ages ago.
So I left it on a wire rack for ages. Probably a couple of hours. Patience isn’t my strong suit, but it’s necessary here. Once it felt properly cool and firm, I lifted the whole slab out using the edges of the baking paper. Put it on a chopping board. Used a big sharp knife to cut it into squares. It cut okay, actually. Held together better than I expected, considering all that extra candy stuff packed in there.
So, How Was It?
Honestly? It was flapjack. Very, very sweet flapjack with chewy, fruity bits and little pockets of melted chocolate. The kids absolutely loved it, obviously. Went down a treat. Total sugar rush central, though.
Was it revolutionary? Nah, not really. Was it a decent way to use up some old sweets that were kicking about? Yeah, pretty much. Good for that.
Bit of effort, bit of mess in the kitchen, but ended up with a full tin of something edible that disappeared fast. That counts as a win in my book. Simple stuff, when you get down to it. Probably make it again if I find myself with another random bag of sweets needing a home. Better than them going stale, anyway.
