Baked Oatmeal

What inspires you?

My tastes have changed over time. I stumbled upon 101 Cookbooks when I first started blogging. I (insert collective gasp) wasn't too sure about it and clicked away - I guess I thought it was a bit lacking on the refined sugar/butter/cake front.

It's a bit like Harry Potter. I started reading the Philosopher's Stone in the summer of '99, got a chapter or two in and gave up (not something I often do). Fast forward a few years and I was a fully fledged Harry Potter fan (I may or may not have spent a sizeable proportion of my early teens on HP websites, hotly debating Harry's future love life).

Nowadays I find myself drawn to different blogs, to different books. I'm slowly changing the foods I choose to make - not out of recognition, but as my skills and knowledge develop and as I explore, I guess I'm unconsciously making slightly different choices. For instance, at the moment I'm particularly drawn to dishes with a history, tradition or story.



I find inspiration in lots of places - to me it's a general creative feeling that touches everything I do, not only what ends up in my oven. I obviously love food blogs (my absolute favourites are on my blogroll on the sidebar) but things like art, literature, light, scenery, photographs (see Brian Ferry) and flowers (see Amy Merrick) find their way in too. There are loads of amazing and slightly different magazines and journals out there - instead of my old Good Food and delicious, I now read Gastronomica, Remedy and Fire & Knives. Old cookbooks, my grandma's cookbooks, return wonderful recipes.

Of course, a new cookbook can revitalize your ideas too - I finally bought Heidi's Super Natural Every Day to give to my mum for Christmas (I got my copy through amazon from the US but it's officially released here in March). This was one the best things we tried - it's wonderfully filling and feels healthy yet sweet. Perfect for a special weekend breakfast where you want something a bit more substantial than waffles/pancakes etc.

I made this again yesterday with pears in the bottom instead of bananas which worked really well. The frozen fruit mix I used this time had strawberries which was a bit odd (my usual one is raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants & blackcurrants) so perhaps avoid them if you share my aversion to cooked strawberries. I'd like to try substituting coconut milk too.

I also browned the butter. I can't help myself. Time passes but I'm still hopelessly addicted - and inspired - by its nutty tones.



Baked Oatmeal
(adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day)

45g butter
200g porridge oats (rolled)
60g walnuts, toasted*
60g soft brown sugar (or maple syrup)
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
475ml milk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla paste (or extract)
2 bananas in thick slices*
approx 150g mixed frozen summer berries*
maple syrup, to serve

Preheat the oven to 190C/370F. Butter a 20cm square baking dish. Melt the butter in a small pan then keep heating - it will foam up and then die down - take off the heat when it is filled with brown flecks and smelling gloriously nutty. Put aside to cool a little.

Mix the oats, 1/2 the nuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In another bowl whisk the milk, egg, 1/2 the butter and vanilla together. Arrange the banana slices on the bottom of the dish and sprinkle about 2/3 of the berries over the bottom of the dish. Tip the oat mixture over the top and spread it out over the berries. Drizzle the milk mixture over the top, making sure all the oats are wet. Thwack on the counter to evenly distribute it. Scatter the rest of the nuts and berries over the top.

Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes until it is set and golden. Drizzle the rest of the brown butter (you may have to warm it a little) over the top and serve with maple syrup (and possibly some cream).

* You could swap up the nuts and fruits as you like or according to season. I always have some frozen summer berries in the freezer - they worked perfectly and didn't need to be defrosted. I was skeptical about walnuts but they actually worked really well.

(Serves 6-8)

Brandy Snaps

I meant to post these in 2011 as I thought they'd be a good party dessert for the holiday season. I ran out of time. You're just going to have to have a dessert party now.



Mum and I made these a few times when I was little - preparing them was more of an event than the party we took them to. I loved waiting for them to cool until just the right point (somewhere between scorching and scalding) and then rushing to get them neatly curled up before they stiffened and shattered.

I decided to serve these drizzled with a sharp berry sauce. I always like contrast in desserts. The sweet spicy warmth from the ginger and brandy in the snaps plays off the cool, pure cream piped inside. The berry sauce adds an acidic edge while still pairing with the rich spicy flavours.



Brandy snaps are eaten with your fingers. The snap cracks and shatters and the cream oozes everywhere, stained pink from the sauce. It's messy. It's worth it.



Brandy Snaps
(adapted from Delia's Book of Cakes)

50g golden syrup
40g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter
40g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
1 tsp brandy
approx 500ml double cream to fill
100g mixed berries (optional sauce)
icing sugar to taste (optional sauce)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a baking sheet with a little butter but don't line it. Melt the syrup with the sugar and butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth (no crystals from the sugar). Take off the heat then beat in the flour, ginger and salt. Finally stir in the brandy.

Spoon the mixture onto the sheet in teaspoons, leaving quite a bit of space between each and only putting a maximum of 9 on a tray at once - start with a few as you have to work quickly to roll them. Put into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes - they should be lacy and a deep rusty gold (see the photo above). Prepare yourself while they bake with a wooden spoon (or another tool of a similar circumference), something to place the hot tray on and a wire cooling rack. Leave to firm up a little on the hot tray for 2 minutes. If any have spread into each other, quickly cut down the join with a sharp knife.

When you can lift them up and they don't break but are still pliable, lift one off and quickly wrap it around the handle of the spoon. Hold for a moment then slide off and leave to cool completely. You need to work quickly as the moment when they are perfectly pliable is short.

I really recommend making a sharp berry sauce to drizzle over the brandy snaps. To do so, heat the berries gently (I used frozen berries) until they're soft. Add icing sugar to taste. Finally pass through a sieve to get rid of any seeds and skin.

To fill the brandy snaps, whip up the cream until it holds firm peaks (but be careful to not overwhip - you just need it strong enough to stay in the snaps and not run out). Fill a piping bag and pipe into each brandy snap. Drizzle with the sauce if you're using it. Eat with your fingers.

(Makes 16-18)

Guest Post: Mixed Berry Cakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

As I'm currently finding a new home in London and moving, I asked two of my favourite bloggers to write me a guest post. This is the first - the lovely Steph from Sydney...

Hello! I'm Steph from raspberri cupcakes and when Emma asked me if I could write a guest post for her I jumped at the chance. I've been a huge fan of her gorgeous blog and wonderful recipes for a long time now, and we share a deep love of scones. There was no way I could say no!

So I thought I would share these lovely Mixed Berry & Vanilla Bean Cakes covered in Lemon Cream Cheese Icing. It just so happened that when Emma asked me I was in the process of brainstorming birthday baking ideas for my fiance's Mum. It's always an interesting challenge because of all the things she is unable to eat or drink; chocolate, orange, banana, nuts & alcohol. Eep. What does that leave me with? Plenty!

Spring is just upon us in Australia, so I wanted to make something that screamed springtime with lots of berries and a tinge of citrus. One of the most delicious cakes I have ever made was a Strawberry Cake from Martha Stewart covered in Pink Champagne buttercream, so I thought I might adapt that recipe with lots of different berries and a different icing. This cake is insanely delicious. The smells that filled my kitchen while this was baking were so inviting and mouth-watering that I very nearly gave up on the idea of the icing because I knew the cake was going to taste so good already.

I decided to use a mixture of vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract in the cake batter because I sometimes find the flavour from vanilla beans quite mild and I didn't want the vanilla to be drowned out by the berries and lemon cream cheese flavours. The combination of the two worked fantastically, you get the beautiful dots of vanilla bean as well as a noticeable vanilla flavour.

To be completely honest, the cake really does taste great on its own and you could skip the icing, but I decided to go ahead with sandwiching and covering the cakes with a generous amount of icing, because I was stuck on the idea of presenting them as you see them. The icing of the cakes took quite a long time, and I eventually gave up trying to get them super smooth and went for the more 'rustic' look, but I am pretty happy with their overall look. The icing is so smooth and fluffy, with just the lightest hint of sour lemon. You could add the lemon zest to the icing to give it a stronger hit of citrus, but I decided not to as I wanted the icing to be velvety and smooth.

I ended up with 6 medium-sized cakes, far too large to serve to a single person and with a tad too much icing for each cake because of the way they were decorated. I think if I was to make it again I might consider making them as cupcakes with a blob of the cream cheese icing on top, so feel free to adapt the recipe to do that. Or just make the cake on its own, with whatever berries you can get your hands on, its a great afternoon tea treat.

Thanks so much to Emma for inviting me to share this with you, I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Mixed Berry Cakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing
(makes 6 medium cakes or 12 mini cakes, adapted from this recipe from raspberri cupcakes)

For the cake:
85g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (about 230g) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (about 220g) plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste + 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (if you one of these is unavailable you can just use a full tsp of either)
450g (1 pound) mixed berries, I used frozen raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and hulled and halved strawberries

For the icing:
250g cream cheese, softened
250g unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp of lemon, or adjust to taste (you can also add the zest of one lemon if you wish)
6 cups (about 750g) icing sugar, sifted
Optional: Fresh berries to decorate

Grease and line with baking paper a 24x32cm rectangular cake tin, or two 20cm square cake tins and preheat oven to 180C (350F). Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (regular beaters will also do). Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Pour mixture into prepared tin and smooth top with a spatula. Arrange berries on top of batter, (cut sides down for the strawberries) and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries. Bake until cakes are golden brown and firm to the touch, about 45-50 mins. Let cool in tin on a wire rack, then carefully turn out. Chill cake while preparing the icing. Can be stored in an airtight container or wrapped in clingfilm for a day or so before icing.

Prepare the cream cheese icing; place cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until smooth and fluffy. Add lemon and icing sugar, one cup and a time, and beat until smooth. You may need to adjust the amount of icing sugar to obtain the right consistency, it should be spreadable but not runny. Slice cake into 12 equal portions for medium cakes or 24 equal portions for mini cakes. Spread icing over the top of half the cake pieces and sandwich with the other half of the cake pieces (the berry-covered side facing inwards). At this point you can just spread a bit more extra icing on the top of each cake. However if you want to cover them entirely as shown in the photos, crumb coat each individual cake with icing. It helps to place each finished one to chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the others. Thinly cover each cake with more cream cheese icing using a spatula and chill until set. I iced each cake on square of baking paper to make it easy to transfer the cake around. Top with fresh berries and serve.