Growing up in France, my breakfasts were almost always of the sweet variety. Toast with butter and jam, or Nutella, pastries… and on the very best days, cake!

Fast forward a few years (really not that many!) and you’ll find that my breakfasts have taken a savoury turn… but cake very much remains at the top of the ‘best breakfast’ list!

Now, I know that not everyone can stomach a brownie calorie bomb early in the morning (feel free to call me shall you need some help!), but the below Cranberry Oatmeal Cake is a completely different animal.

It has oats, and berries, and syrup and egg. It has that sweet, milky taste of the very best porridge, contrasting perfectly with the sharp, tangy cranberry and deep, dark chocolate chips. And it’s much more convenient to eat on-the-go than a bowl of cereal.

If that’s not top breakfast material, I don’t know what is!

Cranberry Oatmeal Cake (serves 6-8)

Ingredients: 

• 100g porridge oats
• 250ml hot milk
• 100g butter, softened
• 50g caster sugar
• 60ml maple syrup
• 1 big free-range egg, lightly beaten
• 120g self-raising flour + 1 tbsp
• 150g fresh or frozen cranberry
• 1 tbsp dark chocolate chips

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C°. Grease and line a large loaf tin.

2. In a small bowl, mix the cranberries with 1 tbsp flour until evenly coated (that will prevent them from falling to the bottom of the tin).

3. Combine the oats and the hot milk in a large mixing bowl and set aside for a while to allow the oats to absorb most of the milk.

4. Cream the butter and sugar together with a whisk, then stir in the maple syrup and the egg.

5. Fold the flour into the butter mixture.

6. Drain any remaining liquid from the oats, then stir into the cake batter.

7. Add in the chocolate chips and 2/3 of the cranberries and mix once more.

8. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle the remaining cranberries evenly on top.

9. Bake for about 45 min (or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean).

10. Let rest in the tin for 10 min before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.