Shetland-Style Flapjacks

Shetland Islands Coast not far from Lerwick
By Mænsard Vokser - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36251924

When I read about about flapjacks for tea in the books by Ann Cleeves (Shetland Island Mysteries), I had to look for a recipe to find out what they were. As far as I've ever known, flapjacks are cowboy-style pancakes cooked over an open fire.

These are something very different.

They are delicious! The recipe I found on Shetland Tea Recipes was measured out in grams. Luckily I had both an online metric converter for grams to ounces, and a little cooking scale. The effort to translate it all was well worth it.

Sadly, I didn't have the "jumbo-rolled oats" or golden syrup that were called for. However, regular quick oats and some vanilla syrup I had on hand made for a delicious flapjack. Authentic? I guess not, but still delicious.

Last issue: The recipe called for a Swiss roll tin; I had to look that up, too. Didn't have one, used a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper is a must, this is a sticky mixture.

*****

The recipe, in my words:

Mix together in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until well mixed and the butter is melted:

115 g. dark brown sugar (1/2 cup, packed)
115 g. butter (1 stick)
1 generous tbl. golden syrup (American cooks, use your imagination. Golden syrup is available in our stores, but other syrups will do nicely)

Stir in 175 g jumbo-rolled oats (2 1/3 cups). Again, regular quick rolled oats seemed to do the trick.

Press onto a parchment-lined Swiss roll tin (or a cookie sheet if your international cooking equipment supply is limited). I spread out the mixture to about 8 x 8 inches square.

Bake at 190 C/375 F for 10-15 minutes. Cut into squares very soon after removing from the oven or they'll be difficult to deal with later.

Serve with a big brown pot of tea. In a fog, with fog horns. On an island.

Toad-in-the-Hole

This strangely-named recipe is originally from England. The egg mixture puffs up to make a very lovely looking dish that is perfect for supper.

1 cup of all purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. small, fresh pork sausages

To make the batter in a blender, combine the flour, eggs, milk, salt and a few grindings of pepper in the blender jar, and blend at high speed for 2 or 3 seconds. Turn off the machine, scrape down the sides of the jar, and blend again for 40 seconds.

To make the batter by hand, beat the eggs and salt with a whisk until frothy. Slowly add the flour, beating constantly. Then pour in the milk in a thin stream and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Refrigerate the batter for at least an hour (or stick it in the freezer while you cook the sausages).

Place the sausages side by side in a heavy skillet. Prick them once or twice with a fork, add two tbl. water, cover tightly, and cook over low heat for 3 minutes. Then remove the cover, increase the heat to moderate, and continue to cook, turning the sausages frequently with tongs or a spatula until the water has evaporated and the sausages have begun to brown in their own fat.

Arrange the sausages in a single layer in a 6” x 10” x 2” deep baking dish, moistening them with 2 tbls. of their own drippings. Keep them at least an inch apart. Then pour the batter over them and bake in the middle of a 400 oven for 30 minutes, or until the pudding has risen over the top of the pan and is crisp and brown. Serve at once.