Two of my favourite flavours – cinnamon and coconut – combine in this easy-to-make tray bake that should delight everyone. Wholesome rolled oats provide the body of the cake which can be ready for serving within a couple of hours of starting.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 ounces / 90g rolled oats
- 10 fluid ounces / 290ml boiling water
- 7 ounces / 200g plain flour
- 1½ teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
- 1½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 4 ounces / 115g unsalted butter, softened
- 7 ounces / 200g soft light brown sugar
- 4 ounces / 110g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons of pure cane molasses [1]
Topping
- 2 ounces / 55g unsalted butter
- 7 ounces / 200g soft light brown sugar
- 4 fluid ounces / 120ml whipping cream
- 3½ ounces / 100g desiccated coconut
- 4 ounces / 120g pecans, chopped
Method
Cake
Pre-heat the oven to 175°C / 350°F / gas mark 4.
Line a baking tin of around 9 x 13 inches / 23 x 32cm in size with non-stick baking parchment.
Put the oats in a bowl and pour in the boiling water. Give the mix a good stir and set aside.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy using an electric whisk on medium speed. (See Tips below.)
Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue whisking on a lower speed. Make sure you keep scraping down the sides to keep everything under the whisk.
Add the molasses and continue whisking until that is incorporated.
Add the contents of the bowl of sifted flour and other dry ingredients. Continue whisking on the lowest speed until thoroughly mixed in. Do not overdo this step.
Turn off the mixer and stir in by hand the oats and water.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when you can insert a skewer and it comes out clean.
Take out of the oven and allow it to cool for around one hour.
Topping
While the cake is cooling, make the topping.
Heat the butter, brown sugar, and cream gently in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved.
Take off the heat and add the coconut and chopped pecans and mix together well.
Once the cake has cooled, spread the topping over it and put the tray under a hot grill for a couple of minutes until the topping is bubbly and brown. Do not take your eyes off the tray during this step as it can burn very easily.
Remove from the grill, carefully lift out the cake and cut up into your choice of slices.
Tips
To cream the butter and sugar, you can use a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Alternatively, try a hand-held electric whisk. Cream the butter and sugar together on a medium speed for about five minutes.
Trivia
The phrase “tray bake” is very much a description used in the United Kingdom to describe this type of cookie or biscuit, when the mixture is poured into a tray and then divided up afterwards rather than baked individually. In the USA and other regions this would be more generally described as a “bar cookie”.