Bedrock Bars - I Love The Flintstones!

Where do I begin? Probably the start would be a good place.

I have always loved cartoons, animation, that sort of thing. And my absolute favourite toons were not Disney (shhh – don’t tell Disneyboi!) but Hanna Barbera cartoons.

I grew up in a halcyon haze of Hong Kong Phooey, Captain Caveman, Great Grape Ape, the Hair Bear Bunch – the list is endless. But probably the one HB cartoon I have most affinity with is The Flintstones  Look at this photograph for example…

...4 years old, visiting Aunty Mary in America and I was so excited about being able to talk to Fred and Wilma on the phone ( I was 4, I didn’t realise it was a prerecorded message!). The theme park we were in – Kings Dominion - had ‘The Happy Land of Hanna Barbera’ in it and I still remember walking through Yogi’s cave, getting my photo taken with Dynomutt and being on the Squiddly Diddly ride.

Through my childhood, I drew cartoons endlessly, creating my own characters and collecting Hanna Barbera toys, books, you name it. I still have these and below is a small selection of my items (or crap, as some family members refer to it!!)...

Where is all of this going? Well, on a recent visit to Glasgow I popped into an American food store and picked up a box of Marshmallow Pebbles cereal. I have seen these before, but for some reason it just struck a chord that day and I had to buy them. But instead of eating them as plain cereal I wanted to make the recipe from the box and website, for Bedrock Bars…(I have tweaked measurements and ingredients)

Ingredients:

110 grams melted butter

135 grams crushed digestive biscuits

1 small can sweetened condensed milk

100 grams white chocolate chips

80 grams chopped hazelnuts

500ml cereal (measure in jug up to that level)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180^oC. Grease and line a 13”x9” baking pan.

In a bowl, with a fork mix together the digestive biscuits and melted butter until combined. Place into the baking pan and smooth out into an even layer, covering the base of the pan.

Next empty the can of condensed milk on top of this and spread out until it covers the entire base of the pan (I just tilted the pan and let it run naturally). Then sprinkle on top the chips and nuts and lastly the cereal. With a piece of greaseproof paper smooth over the top, pushing down lightly so the toppings are embedded into the milk.

Pop the pan into the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the cereal begins to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before chopping into squares. I found them to be quite crumbly the same day (although my cousin Leigh tried a warm one and loved it) but the next day they seemed firmer and easier to handle. They are very, very sweet, but the hazelnuts provide a nice contrast and crunch along with the biscuit base. I used hazelnuts instead of almonds, but any nut would probably work as would any cereal (coco pops would be very yummy!).

My old granddad was a huge fan of the Flintstones too and use to be in fits of hysterics at the end when Fred is shouting ‘Wilmaaaa!'. I’m sure he would have loved these. And what a perfect time to share with you again a very apt Cakeyboi cartoon…

Enjoy!