Fruity Oatcake

This colourful cake can make an honest claim to be “healthy” containing, as it does, lots of oats and honey – all topped by a medley of fruits.

Serves: 10

Time: 75 – 80 minutes + cooling time

Difficulty: Easy

Tins: 1 x 20cm/8” round, loose bottomed tin

Ingredients

  • 100g/3½ oz porridge oats
  • 300ml/10fl oz hot milk*
  • 100g/3½ oz unsalted butter, softened
  • 60g/2oz caster sugar
  • 50ml/1.75fl oz runny honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 120g/5oz plain flour
  • 400g/14oz fruit (mainly blueberries & raspberries + some satsuma segments or similar to add colour
  • Icing sugar to dust
A more formally arranged version

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and base line the tin.

2. Put the oats and hot milk* in a mixing bowl and set aside for a while until the oats have absorbed most of the milk and have become cool.

3. Put the butter in a mixing bowl and whisk it for a few minutes. Add the sugar and whisk further, until pale and fluffy. Stir in the honey and vanilla extract. Gradually add in the egg, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Sift the baking powder and flour together, then fold into the butter mixture. Drain any remaining liquid from the oats and stir them into the mixture.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and add the fruit in any desired pattern or randomly.

6. Bake for 55 – 65* minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Be prepared, towards the end of the bake, to cover the top with foil if it appears to be darkening towards burning. (*NB Having used these times initially, a recent version took about 15 minutes longer to bake fully. So take care and check.)

7. Once baked, let it cool in the tin for about 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully. Dust with icing sugar before serving. And/or glaze with warmed honey.

*For a much more indulgent cake (and probably a bit less “healthy”) you could replace some or all of the milk with cream in step 2.

Two cook’s tips if you want a symmetrical pattern when decorating the top. 1. Cut a circle of baking parchment and lay the fruit out on that then transfer to the cake itself. 2. Begin in the middle and work outwards.

There are lots more great cakes and other lovely bakes on the website, just click here for the index.