Cat flapjacks

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'Great British Bake Off' winner Frances Quinn shares one of her many cat-themed creations

Whip up a batch of Frances Quinn's yummy marmalade cat flapjacks (for human consumption only!) with a recipe taken from her book, 'Quintessential Baking'.

You will need:

For the flapjacks

  • 100g butter, roughly chopped.
     
  • 100g golden caster sugar.
     
  • Finely grated zest of one orange.
     
  • 2tbsp marmalade, ideally fine-cut or shredless.
     
  • 200g porridge oats.
     
  • 20g dark chocolate - orange-flavoured if you like, broken into small pieces.
     
  • 12-hole muffin tin.
     
  • Medium paintbrush.
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Frances's top tips:

"Orange zest and marmalade make a purrfect pair of flavourings - and the tangy citrus note goes so well with the chocolate of the cat's paw print (I sometimes use orange-flavoured chocolate for this). You can create mini cat flapjacks by baking the mixture in a 24-hole mini-muffin tin, or split your mixture and make both little and large cat flapjacks. For one giant paw print, fit for a lion king, bake in a 20cm round tin."

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180oC /160oC fan/Gas 4.
     
  2. Put the butter, sugar, orange zest and marmalade in a medium saucepan. Set it over a medium heat and warm, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the oats, combining everything thoroughly.
     
  3. Spoon the mixture into your lined muffin tin - you'll need about 37g of mixture in each hole (or about 18g if you're creating mini flapjacks), which will mean each hole is just under half-full. I set my tin on a set of digital scales to fill it, but you could weigh the precise quantity into one hole and fill the rest by eye.
     
  4. Level the mixture with the back of a teaspoon or the base of a small glass or spice jar. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. If you are baking mini flapjacks, they'll take 8-10 minutes.
     
  5. Allow the flapjacks to cool completely in the tin before removing them with the help of the parchment straps.
     
  6. Melt the dark chocolate for decorating in a microwave or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (bain-marie). Use the paintbrush to paint a chocolate paw print on the top of each flapjack. I usually do this freehand; the shapes don't need to be too perfect as they're supposed to represent muddy paw prints. Leave to set before serving.

 

This recipe, originally published in the March 2016 issue of Your Cat Magazine, was taken from 'Great British Bake Off' winner Frances Quinn's book 'Quinntessential Baking', published by Bloomsbury Publishing and priced at £12 (hardback). With thanks to Frances and the Bloomsbury for allowing us to share this recipe.