breakfast cake by anna jones

Yep, you read that correctly. Anna Jones has created a cake using all the ingredients she’d usually eat for breakfast, so we can all legitimately eat cake for breakfast!

Should you find yourself with a little more time on your hands now that most of us are temporarily not commuting to work, we’re sharing one of our favourite breakfast recipes that’s usually reserved for weekends. We hope you find comfort in the process of preparation and delight in tucking into this dish.

“I have spent time in ashrams and been to more yoga classes than I can remember…. All of these things — meditation, yoga and positive thinking — are tools I use in my life to make it happier and better. And the more I have delved into how to keep my life as happy, free of stress and joyful as possible, the more I know that my kitchen is where I find my calm space. Not every night. Sometimes I clatter around, throwing things in a pan with very little grace, and the end result, while usually edible, is never repeated. But I know the kitchen can be a transformative place, and that goes for anyone — you don’t need to consider yourself a cook.” says Anna.

Serves 6

ingredients

• 100g coconut oil or olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 250g plain yoghurt, plus extra to serve (coconut or oat yoghurt works well for vegans)
• 150ml runny honey or maple syrup
• 2 firm, crisp apples, roughly grated
• The zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 3 organic eggs, separated (135ml aquafaba works well for vegans)
• 100g rolled oats
• 100g rolled almonds
• 50g wholemeal flour (rice flour works well here if you want to make it gluten free)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 200g frozen berries, plus extra to serve (during early spring seasonal fruit is in short supply, so I reach into my freezer for bags of blueberries, blackberries and dark cherries, which see us through until the first strawberries find their way to us)

directions

1. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/170ºC fan/gas 5. If you are using coconut oil, gently melt it and allow it to cool. In a bowl, mix the yoghurt with the honey and add the apples and the lemon zest. Add the cooled coconut oil or olive oil. Add the egg yolks to the yoghurt mixture.
2. Put the oats into a food processor and blitz until you have a scruffy flour, then tip into a bowl and add the almonds, wholemeal flour and baking powder and whisk to get rid of any lumps of baking powder.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the yoghurt mixture and mix to combine everything. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft peaks, then gently fold them through the batter with a spatula or large spoon. You want to incorporate as much air as you can here to make the cake light and fluffy, so try not to mix more than you need to.
4. Rub a 23cm ovenproof frying pan with oil and warm it over a medium heat for a minute or two so the base of the cake crisps up nicely. Take it off the heat and pour the cake batter into the pan (I use an ovenproof frying pan here but you could use a similar-sized cake tin instead. If you’re using a cake tin, pour the batter in without heating it on the hob).
5. Scatter your frozen fruit over the top and put the pan into the hot oven for 45–50 minutes, until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out almost clean. If you are using a cast-iron pan the cake will continue to cook as it sits, so you can afford a few minutes less.
6. Serve in the middle of the table, with more yoghurt and some more berries if you like.

The shallow breakfast cake is best cooked in a pan, then spooned out into a bowl, though as it cools and firms up, any leftovers can be sliced and warmed in the oven later in the week.

This recipe can be found in Anna Jones’ most recent book, The Modern Cook’s Year, where she shares 250 delicious vegetarian recipes that are arranged in rhythm with nature and the seasons. Anna believes in eating ingredients at times of the year they’re at their very best and the unbridled joy of cooking and eating.