Oatmeal and honey cake

 

Apart from parkin, all my oat recipes have been biscuits.  Time to redress the balance a little.  The best way I can describe this recipe is that it is the flavour of a flapjack but with the lightness of a cake.  The topping provides the oaty flapjack dense texture but then is balanced by a light sponge.  My major problem with flapjacks has always been that because they are pretty heavy going I can never eat as much/as many as I want to...consider that problem solved with this cake!  Here’s the oaty topping:

You scatter this on top of the cake (before baking) like so:

The cake has a great mix of textures and – as everyone knows – the addition of oats must mean it’s healthy!

A perfect cake to accompany a mid morning cuppa or equally at home warmed up and served with a jug of custard for dessert.  Ice cream would work too (I’ll whisper that so that I don’t upset Mr CC).

I made the cake plain, as per the recipe set out below, but I really think it could take a pinch of spice if you were so inclined.  I think it’s best plain for this time of year but I can imagine it in the darkest depths of winter with a good hit of cinnamon or ginger.  Perhaps with some lightly poached plums on the side.  Oh god, I’m making myself hungry now!

This would make a great cake tin cake, by which I mean that cake you have no particular need for but like to know it’s there so you can have a slice over the course of several days.  It gets better with age as the oats and honey seem to mature and develop their flavours.  I think it would also be rather nice made as a tray bake.

Ingredients

For the topping:

100g unsalted butter
100g honey, plus extra for drizzling over the baked cake
150g rolled oats

For the cake:

200g unsalted butter
50g medium oatmeal
100g light brown muscovado sugar
150g self raising flour
4 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Start by making the topping (sounds weird, but it needs time to cool!): melt the butter and honey in a saucepan over a gentle heat.

Remove from the heat and stir in the oats taking care to ensure that every oat is covered in the buttery honey.

Tip into a bowl and leave to one side.

Now make the cake: melt the butter.

While the butter is melting, place the oatmeal, sugar and flour in a bowl.

Beat in the melted butter.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Pour (it will be runny) into the prepared cake tin.

Scatter the oaty topping over the cake – don’t worry that some will sink into the cake as the oats are heavy and the cake batter is liquidy. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin until it is safe to de-tin, then leave the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cake comes out of the oven drizzle over some extra honey.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.