This was my breakfast one morning. Yes cake for breakfast. Shock horror! Us bloggers have to eat cake for breakfast sometimes you know. Because well who else is going to eat it? It's just that little bit tempting to cut yourself a hunk and "taste test" the goods before posting the recipe. Especially when it's fresh and warm from the oven! Oh yeah.

I've had this recipe in my draft folder for over a month now. Things have been really busy here at the Whimsical household. With the year now in fast forward, barreling towards Christmas *gasp* I swore I wouldn't talk about it yet until the 1st of December! Dang it. OH well I've gone and said it now. It feels like things are just flying now and I need to put the breaks on to get a hold on things. Each week is packed with to-do lists and jobs to complete. I am at the tail end of my latest food photography assignment, an Autumn and Winter Cookbook for Lose Baby Weight. I have been up to my eyeballs in soups and all things chocolate.

Think chocolate cakes, slices, mousse and muffins just to name a few things. I would have to say this has been one of my favourite assignments so far. I have been experimenting with the moody side of lighting with this cookbook to get the feel of winter and comfort in each photo. It has been a wonderful creative outlet for me but I do find it a little stressful and exhausting trying to work around a 16 month old who decides to drop his second nap in the midst of it all. How do working mums keep it all together. I have no idea.... Oh wait I do - they send their kids to daycare!! That might be on the cards if this work continues! My house is ALWAYS a mess at the moment. Toys are strewn from one end of the house to the other and there are crumbs underfoot wherever you walk. There may even be food splattered in random places. Dishes are piled high to be washed, to be dried and to be unpacked from the dish washer. There has been an empty vanilla essence bottle floating around the house that the little boy has been playing with that pops up from time to time. I am still trying to find time to get basic hygiene completed in the day, deodorant, clean teeth and maybe do my hair. Social interactions are next to nothing and I feel like my best friend is me because I have the most conversations with myself during the day about random things going on. Yeah I think I may just have lost it. *sigh*!

Anyway enough of my insanity lets talk cake!! I was thinking about brunch when I created this recipe. Something that is cake and could be called breakfast without sugar crash an hour after eating it. It's probably 10 times healthier than most boxed cereals! I have called it a skillet cake because I have cooked it in a skillet however if you only have a round cake tin then use that instead. I included my favourite spices, cinnamon and ginger to give it some depth and made it Low GI using Oat bran, wholemeal flour and rice malt syrup. You'll thank me for that once you've eaten a slice!

The cake batter is soaked over night to let the milk and oatbran connect with one another, to get to know each other well and soak each other up real good! By doing this you won't need to add any butter or oil to have a moist cake the work has been done during the night. Once the ingredients are all happy together overnight a few add-ins in the morning are required and you can bake it off.

I served mine with a dollop of greek yoghurt of yoghurt alternative if you are intolerant and a good drizzle of berry sauce. To make the berry sauce you simple simmer 2 cups of blueberries and a few tablespoons of water in a saucepan and simmer on low for around 10 minutes until all soft and saucy. Add a teaspoon or so of cornflour to thicken slighty. Easy peasy! Now go eat cake for breakfast!

Blueberry Skillet Cake

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: Overnight + 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Keywords: bake bread breakfast side snack dessert sugar-free oats cake fall spring summer winter

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)

1 cup oat bran
½ cup apple puree
¾ cup milk or milk alternative
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup rice malt syrup, warmed until runny
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ cup blueberries, frozen or fresh
2 -3 tablespoon flaked almonds

Instructions

The night before: In a medium sized bowl place the oat bran, apple puree, milk and spices together. Stir to combine all the ingredients together. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge to soak overnight.

In the morning : Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan forced and lightly spray a 25cm cast iron skillet or ovenproof pan with a little olive oil.

Sift the flour and baking soda together into the soaked oat bran mixture. Add the rice malt syrup and vinegar to the mixture and stir all the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

Spread the mixture out evenly into the greased pan; dot the blueberries into the mixture spacing evenly around the cake. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top of the batter and place into the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool slightly before bringing to the table still in the pan. Serve with a big dollop of Greek yoghurt and berry sauce.

Cook’s notes: If you don’t have a cast iron skillet or oven proof pan simple use a normal round cake tin to cook it in.

Gluten Free Version:

*Substitute the oat bran with 1 ½ cups of quinoa flakes and 1 ½ cups of Gluten Free Self raising flour.