Baking Improv

In a turn of events that will surprise absolutely no one, I baked at the weekend. While me baking is in no way unusual, me going off-piste in my culinary endeavours certainly is. I am a stickler for recipes, particularly when it comes to baking. I'll happily throw together some vegetables, meat and pasta for a casual evening dinner but if I want to make something a bit more substantial, or bake something, I will always pull out a recipe book and follow it meticulously.

Unfortunately, I was a little low on supplies when I turned to my kitchen cupboards at the weekend and none of my recipes seemed to fit with the ingredients I had on-hand. And thus, these oaty-fruity-cakey delights were created. These are quite dense and chewy little cakes, with a nice bit of zing from the fruit. They tasted especially good when they were still warm from the oven. Considering I was just making things up as I went along, they turned out rather marvellously.

120 grams butter
120 grams sugar
2 eggs
120 grams flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
120 grams rolled oats
50-75 grams frozen summer berries
1 handful sliced almonds

Makes 12-16 (depending on how stingy you are with your portions)

• Set the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease the holes in a cupcake/ muffin tin (you may need more than one tray).
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time with a tblsp of flour to stop curdling. Mix thoroughly.
• Add the remaining flour and fold in gently.
• Add the vanilla extract and fold in gently. Finally, add the oats and the summer berries and mix everything together gently.
• Separate the mixture between the holes in the cupcake/ muffin tin. You want the holes filled about half-way. Sprinkle on some sliced almonds and press slightly into the batter.
• Bake for about 20 mins - they should be nicely golden brown on top. Remove from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for a few minutes.

These were so quick and easy to make, I'm thinking about making them again this weekend with chunks of apple and cinnamon instead of the summer berries.