It is not my fault that I am craving sweets constantly, it’s the C21 H30 O5. Yes cortisol generally known as stress hormone. Sounds like a flimsy excuse? In this case I would never admit that you are right!

As I usually don’t want to buy something to eat on the run and I know I’ll be hungry in a whim, I like to have a sandwich or other healthy alternative on hand when I leave my home. But I bring most of it right back at night. What happened? This nasty stress hormone tricked me again and again and again. I occasionally save the world or just the tiler with getting the requested bull nose tiles (did you know there is such thing? Me neither!). Fighting the Atlanta traffic, hunting down this damn needed tiles, all this means stress to me and my craving for sweets kicks in. Than I pass by this doughnut store, I just can’t close my eyes, I am driving right! Right? So I end up eating this tasty unhealthy stuff and don’t even feel bad about it. Because again it’s the cortisol…

Some weeks ago Mr.  F and I took a break from all this renovating and joint a cooking class with Les Dames d’Escoffier, fancy name for fancy ladies: Cynthia Graubart, Tamie Cook, Virginia Willis, Pastry Chef Heather Hurlbert, Caterer Dana Dabruzzi and Mixologist Lara Creasy. The funny thing is we just met most of them at the food blog south conference in Birmingham, Al. It was more than a cooking class, we enjoyed a whole menu, received great advise for wine pairing and table decorating. But it hit me when Heather Hurlbert prepared the dessert: oatmeal spice cake with brown sugar pecan icing and orange caramelized apples. This piece of cake deserved a heck of a name, it was spot on. I loved the idea to have a use for leftover breakfast oatmeal, it’s like recycling! I skipped a lot of her original recipe, I didn’t wanted a dessert. I wanted whole grains. I wanted something to take with me, something I can nibble on while I stuck in line at a hardware store. I sadly said good bye to the icing and caramel and even reduced the method to the limit. I took as many shortcuts as possible, renovating is a tough job and I wasn’t in the mood for extra work. Since then I made this cake with many modifications, the following one is the latest, but another very successful one had been apple with cinnamon and roasted hazelnuts (see below in the notes).

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gingered oatmeal cake with carrots

ingredients

• 190 ml / 3/4 cup water
• 50 g / 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• or   200 g / 3/4 cup leftover oatmeal
• 175 g / 4 midsize carrots, peeled
• 140 g / 1 1/8 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 130 g / 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 60 g / 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar (for topping)

instructions

1. In a small saucepan add water and oats and cook 5 minutes, let cool. Skip if you use leftover oatmeal.
2. Preheat your oven to 175 C / 350 F and grease your 18 cm / 7 inch springform pan.
3. In a medium bowl measure whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt and set aside.
4. In your food processor shred the carrots. Remove the shredding disc and add the chopping blades.
5. Add sugar, egg, butter, vanilla extract, ginger and process for a few seconds.
6. Add dry ingredients, pulse until just combined. Pour batter into springform pan and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp sugar.
7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from baking pan.
8. Serve with yoghurt (or whipped cream) and sprinkle with freshly grated lime zest.

variations

• Skip the carrots and the ginger and add one medium apple (peeled and grated), 75 g / 2.6 oz. hazelnuts, (roasted and ground) and 1/2 tsp cinnamon (ground).
• You can use all purpose flour (140 g / 1 1/8 cups) instead of whole wheat flour.
• Certainly you can use a box grater and a mixer instead of a food processor.