British fruit has seen a decline over recent years

On July 16, Britons will be encouraged to support local fruit by buying a punnet of cherries. British fruit has seen a massive decline over recent years, with shoppers preferring to tuck into imported fresh fruit instead of UK supplies. Recent figures have revealed that a staggering 90 per cent of British cherry orchards have been lost over the last 50 years due to the slip in demand.

If you fancy being a bit more adventurous with your cherries, Splenda, a low calorie sweetener, has created a delicious cherry flapjack recipe.

Cherry, apricot and chocolate chip flapjacks

Makes 16

175g butter, plus extra for greasing
175g golden syrup
4 tablespoons Splenda granulated sweetener
300g porridge oats
Pinch of salt
50g dried cherries, halved
75g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
40g white chocolate chips
40g dark or milk chocolate chips

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm square baking tin and line it with greaseproof paper - by leaving an overhang of paper, the flapjacks will be easier to remove later.
2 Melt the butter with the golden syrup in a large saucepan over a gentle heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.
3 Mix together the sweetener, porridge oats, salt, cherries, apricots and chocolate chips. Add to the saucepan and stir together until thoroughly mixed. Tip into the prepared tin and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
4 Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 30 minutes, then remove from the tin and cut into 16 squares. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Keep in an airtight container, or wrap in greaseproof paper.

By Lauren King