Mum brought me the Nordic Bakery Cookbook when she and Dad came to visit me in the Bahamas recently. It’s one of those books that instantly clicks, and I wanted to cook everything IMMEDIATELY – always a sign of a keeper. Mum and I had such fun cooking together and we ploughed happily through the classic cinnamon buns, the orange and polenta cake (Dad’s birthday treat – yum) and rye crispbreads during their visit. Since we live a whole continent apart, we decided to hold fire on the rest of the recipes until we could coordinate our baking between her kitchen in the UK and my kitchen in Nassau. Even if remote cooking doesn’t involve quite as much gossip/tea-drinking/singing/Radio 4 as being in the kitchen together, it’s nice to feel closer than the continent between us lets us normally.
So our mutually agreed first recipe is this loafy oatmeal cake topped with berries. I think the oats really make or break this: I used quick-cooking rolled Quaker oats, where as Mum used more hardcore, organic Irish oats. I squeezed quite a lot of milk out of the oats after soaking, really pressing them down in a sieve, whereas Mum left them quite wet. In the end, Mum’s cake was overly moist, took ages to cook and was pretty heavy. It needed some creme fraiche – not a problem per se, but the healthy vibe of the oats and berries doesn’t quite jibe with needing extra creaminess. I got a better result on the first day from my oats, but despite storing it in the fridge it got a bit dry subsequently.
The results:
“Probably used as Viking ballast”
Thumbs firmly down from the UK I’m afraid, and they actually chucked it (heresy!) before finishing it. Dad says “Perfect if you’re stranded in a Finnish snowdrift”. Mum says “Definitely Nordic” and “Very oaty” – typical motherish deadpan-ness here.
Thumbs wavering in Nassau. I liked it most on the first day when it was pretty moist, but it dried out a bit by the second day. Fabio says “Not one of your top cakes, and quite dense and dry” – well he says that, but it’s all disappeared quite quickly over a few merende and my breakfasts.
I think the notes in the recipe have it right, that it’s a good brunch dish when you know it’s going to be nearly all hoovered up on the first sitting and it’s still warm from the oven. Think of it as a bake rather than a cake.
Oatbake with blueberries and raspberries
From the Nordic Bakery Cookbook
Ingredients
- 100g rolled oats
- 300ml hot milk
- 100g butter, softened
- 60g caster sugar
- 50ml runny honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 120g plain AP flour
- 300g mixed berries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease a 2lb loaf tin.
- Soak the oats in the hot milk while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Cream the sugar with the butter until pale. Beat in the honey and vanilla extract and then the egg. Mix the baking powder with the flour and then fold these into the butter mixture.
- Drain the milk from the oats in a sieve, not pressing too vigorously though, and stir into the mixture.
- Pour into the loaf tin, and pile the berries on top.
- Bake for 50 minutes until a skewer in the middle comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack until just warm. Eat straightaway!
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 50 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
Meal type: brunch
Culinary tradition: Scandinavian
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