Saturday, August 11, 2012

Purple Carrot Flapjacks

Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook is hosting this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I'm featuring these purple carrots.

purple carrot© by Haalo

It's been great to see these coloured carrots becoming more readily available - when you think of the history of carrot viticulture, it's a case of going back to the beginning. Those everyday orange carrots are a 17th century invention and it is these red/purple and yellow varieties that are actually the original carrot.

I can recommend using these instead of orange carrots in stews as they leech their colour creating a much richer looking dish. Their colour also means that they are loaded in antioxidants and this study indicates they possess quite interesting health benefits.

I should note that they are a bit like beetroot in that they can tint your fingertips but it washes away fairly easily with water.

This dish I've made is a modified flapjack - not to be confused with a US flapjack, this UK version is an oaty slice.

Purple Carrot Flapjack© by Haalo

Purple Carrot Flapjacks

250 grams butter
100 grams golden syrup
50 grams coconut sugar (or soft brown sugar)
300 grams five-grain porridge (rolled oats, rolled triticale, rolled barley, rolled rye, rolled rice)
125 grams shredded purple carrot (about 2 average sized carrots)
100 grams slivered almonds

Peel and grate the carrots - I used a microplane rather than a normal grater to get a finer result as you can see.

grated purple carrot© by Haalo

Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a pan and place on a medium heat. Stir until the butter and sugar has melted and then simmer for a minute.

Put the grains (or just use rolled oats if that is all you have) into a heat proof bowl - stir in the almonds and grated carrot. Make a well in the center and pour in the melted butter mixture. Stir to combine - it will look like you've used blueberries!

Purple Carrot Flapjack© by Haalo

Spread the mixture out onto a baking paper lined slice tin (25x15) and press the mixture down firmly - flatten the surface with a palette knife.

Bake in a preheated 160°C oven for about 40 minutes or until golden - this will be soft when it comes out of the oven and needs to cool to set.

6 comments

  1. The colour is amazing! And so is the fact that the orange carrot is the newer version and the purple one is the original. It's so much more beautiful than orange carrot too.

    Do these purple carrots taste exactly the same as orange carrots?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Elizabeth - not a big difference maybe not quite as sweet as an orange carrot.

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  2. I never knew that the orange carrots were newer.

    The colour is wonderful, really, and so interesting.

    I'll have to track some purple carrots... I'm really curious as to how the people would react to something at the same time so familiar and so alien looking :D .

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Ana - hope you find some and I find people are really interested when presented with them to eat.

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  3. I've been seeing these beauties more and more here, too, but the markets are still few and far.

    What a knock-out of a first shot, Haalo. Love.

    And love your "flapjacks," too. Yes, they are very different than than what we skillet up here in U.S. We would call these something like "granola bars."

    What a great recipe for WHB!

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  4. Intriguing food history and dish. Love the photos!

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