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This Leftover Porridge Cake recipe is ideal if you are stuck with a saucepan full of cooked oatmeal. It is a delicious and healthy cake for snacking, warm with spices and bursting with fruity blueberries. It even makes a great dessert served warm with ice cream. Plus it is gluten-free and refined sugar-free with a dairy-free option.
It happened again this morning. My husband was on breakfast porridge duty and his idea of how much porridge the whole family can eat in one sitting is incredibly optimistic. No leftovers ever go to waste in our house so we need to find a way to use this oatmeal in other recipes.
What is porridge?
Porridge is commonly eaten at breakfast and is made from a whole or ground starchy plants cooked in liquid, usually water or milk. Although you can get different kinds of porridge made from a variety of different plants, this recipe is based on using leftover cooked oatmeal.
What can you do with leftover porridge?
There are a number of ways you can use leftover porridge:
- Keep it in the fridge for tomorrow. It will become quite solid so loosen it up when re-heating with extra milk.
- Add a couple of tablespoons into a smoothie.
- Add an egg and a banana to a couple of tablespoons for Quick Porridge Pancakes.
- You can even use it in meatballs or meatloaf in lieu of breadcrumbs.
- Or…make Porridge Cake – read on!!
To save us from eating porridge for days on end we love to bake cooked oatmeal up into this delicious and healthy Porridge Cake which is ideal for the whole family to snack on, lunchboxes and actually perfect for little fingers to hold if you are baby led weaning. It’s also makes for a great dessert warmed up which you can serve with yoghurt or even ice cream!
We all enjoy going back for little nibbles of Porridge Cake and it rarely lasts the day it is baked.
In fact it has come to the stage when we make extra porridge just so we can have this cake on hand for snacking.
Why you’ll love this Porridge Cake
- A great way to use up leftover porridge.
- You can use any cooked oatmeal, even if it’s been flavoured or you’ve put a few extra ingredients in it. Every Porridge Cake will be slightly unique as there are no hard and fast rules to the kind of porridge you can use. It turns out a little differently every time.
- It is usually a very moist cake though but the texture is incredibly addictive.
- The cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla give this cake a great backdrop of deep flavour.
- The burst of fruity blueberries really make this humble little cake quite special.
- Plus it only takes 10 minutes to mix up so is very quick to prepare.
- It bakes into a small 6 inch cake so you won’t have loads of cake to contend with either. It’s the perfect amount.
What kind of leftover porridge can you use for Porridge Cake?
This recipe works with any leftover porridge or cooked oatmeal.
You can use cooked jumbo rolled oatmeal, quick porridge oatmeal or even steel cut oatmeal.
However, there will be a variation on how this recipe turns out for you depending on how your porridge has been cooked. If you like your porridge very loose then your cake will be ultra moist. If you leave your porridge overnight before baking it then your resulting cake will have a more solid structure as the oats have absorbed more of the liquid.
You can even use porridge that has little extras in it. Chia seeds, flaxseed, almond butter. It all adds to your own unique porridge cake.
What ingredients do we need?
- Porridge or cooked oatmeal – the texture and flavour of porridge will dictate how your cake turns out. There is no wrong porridge to use though.
- Unsalted butter – used here for richness of flavour. You can swap out for coconut oil if you need your cake to be dairy-free.
- Honey – this is all the sweetness we need. You can substitute for maple syrup if you would like.
- Eggs – this recipe uses medium size
- Vanilla extract – try not to use essence. Extract gives a lovely clean vanilla flavour.
- Ground almonds – you can swap this out for almond flour or plain gluten-free flour or even regular flour.
- Spices – we use cinnamon and nutmeg here for a warming flavour but you can also add a touch of ground ginger or even mixed spice.
- Baking powder – for a little bit of lift.
- Blueberries – the pockets of fruity blueberries in the cake are such a treat. You can swap out for raspberries (which will create a wetter cake) or sultanas (which will create a drier cake).
- Salt – it just balances all the flavours.
How do we make it?
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
The steps are simple:
- Mix together the cooled porridge, melted butter, honey, eggs and vanilla extract until combined.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and beat to combine.
- Stir through the blueberries.
- Bake for 1 hour.
Recommended Equipment: 6 inch x 4 inch Round Cake Tin
Tips for Porridge Cake
- Wait until your porridge has completely cooled before beginning making the cake. You could even leave it in the fridge overnight and make it the next day.
- If your porridge is already flavoured with cinnamon or vanilla then just reduce the quantities of the flavourings slightly so it doesn’t get overpowering.
- You can make by hand in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon if you don’t want to clean your stand mixer.
- Stir the blueberries through gently so they don’t break up in the cake mixture.
- Allow the cake to rest for 5 minutes before removing from the cake tin.
How do you serve Porridge Cake?
This cake is extremely moist. You can serve 2 ways:
- Allow to cool completely and serve as a regular cake. It’s delicious drizzled with honey or with a pat of warm butter.
- Serve still warm where it will have soft pudding texture – almost like a Bread and Butter Pudding. Delicious with yoghurt, cold cream or hot custard or even ice cream
How to store it
This cooked oatmeal cake is delicious at room temperature so you can keep the cake out of the fridge for a day or two wrapped in aluminium foil but only if you are going to eat it within that time frame. Otherwise the cake is best kept in the fridge. Take it out 30 minutes before you want to serve it to bring it to room temperature.
Can you make this cake dairy-free?
Yes, you can swap the butter for coconut oil.
Variations for Leftover Porridge Cake
- Sultanas – swap the blueberries with sultanas where it really will take upon a Bread and Butter Pudding identity.
- Orange zest – add the zest of half an orange for a lovely citrusy kick.
- Chocolate – Add 50g cocoa powder and even a handful of chocolate chips for a lovely Chocolate Porridge Cake.
More oat recipes you’ll love!
- Banana Oat Bread
- Cheesy Oat Bacon Breakfast Muffins
- Healthy Banana Flapjacks
- Chocolate Dipped Oat Peanut Butter Cookies
- Gluten-Free Parkin
- White Chocolate Raspberry Flapjacks
I urge you to give this Leftover Porridge Cake a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Leftover Porridge Cake
Ingredients
- 300 g leftover porridge - cooled
- 60 g unsalted butter - melted then cooled
- 80 ml honey
- 3 eggs - medium
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 200 g ground almonds
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 125 g blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C /160°C fan assisted oven / gas mark 4.
- Line and grease a 6 inch round baking tin.
- Place the leftover porridge, melted butter, honey, eggs and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl or stand mixer and beat until combined.
- Whisk together the ground almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and beat to combine.
- Stir through the blueberries.
- Pour the cake mixture into the prepared baking tin and place in the centre of the oven. Bake for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and remove the cake from the tin to cool on a wire rack.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
- Butter – you can switch for coconut oil if you would like a dairy-free version.
- Honey – you can swap for maple syrup.
- Ground almonds – you can swap for Gluten-Free Plain White Flour or even regular All Purpose Flour
- Blueberries – swap for raspberries, sultanas or a handful of mixed dried fruit.
Cooking Tips
- Wait until your porridge has completely cooled before beginning making the cake. You could even leave it in the fridge overnight and make it the next day.
- If your porridge is already flavoured with cinnamon or vanilla then just reduce the quantities of the flavourings slightly so it doesn’t get overpowering.
- Stir the blueberries through gently so they don’t break up in the cake mixture.
- Allow the cake to rest for 5 minutes before removing from the cake tin.
Hi Georgina,
I finally got to make the cake in my mini loaf pans. I had 1-1/2 cups of oatmeal so it got increased a bit so I got 4 total and got to share with neighbors and they loved it and asked for the recipe! I added all the blueberries and I'm so glad I did. The dried fruits were not visible anywhere. I baked them at 350°F for 45 minutes and they puffed up beautifully. I love your recipe!!
That's lovely to hear!! Thank you for your feedback Michele
Woweeee
That cake is so nice and something a bit different
Came out lovely after having to bake it 30 min more
But this is probably due to my old gas oven
Thank you Georgina
Another success
❤️❤️❤️❤️
That's lovely to hear!!
Hello Georgina,
I am looking forward to baking the Leftover Porridge Cake in the next couple of days. My porridge has dried cranberries and diced dried apricots already in it.
1. Would I still add blueberries, maybe just 1/3 cup or would that make it too wet?
2. I would like to share it with someone as I think it will be too much for two of us. Would it be possible to split it and bake in two 3" X 5" mini loaf pans?
3. Would the baking time need to be adjusted to a shorter time?
Sorry to have so many questions but It sounds like a fun thing to bake and share, kind of like something from the "old country days".
Hi Michele, I wouldn't bother with the blueberries if you've got some dried fruit in there already. I haven't tested the recipe in those smaller pans before so I can't guarantee but I'm sure it would be absolutely fine. Yes you would need to adjust the baking time to a shorter amount of time. Again, as I haven't tested that sized pan I couldn't say what the baking time would be. I'd check the cakes after the first 20-25 minutes to see how they are getting on. Do let me know how you get on!
Just wondering if you’ve ever tried coconut flour instead of almond?
I have a similar porridge cake recipe from years ago that I use for muffins - currently on 2nd trial using 125g grated Jerusalem Artichokes!
Hi Sue, I haven't but I wonder if that would be a good substitution. Definitely trying it with coconut flour next - I think the moisture content could handle it. I'll report back once I've tried it.
Thank you so very much for sharing your gifts. I’m a novice at gluten free baking partly due to fear of failing. Your recipes give me a confidence boost. I happened upon this recipe in a timely manner and gave it a go. I substituted with a loaf pan, maple syrup and almond flour. I added half of a very ripe banana, 2 Tsp chopped pecans, 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice, and 1 tsp lemon zest. I forgot the nutmeg, but I liked it very much and I wanted to share this small success story with you. Oh, and thank you also for offering the US measurement conversion. Another huge help for this timid baker.
Those sound like lovely substitutions - I'm happy you like the cake!
OMG I just noticed you have a US measurement selection, love it. Although I am sure all my UK family are just fine and happy with the normal measurements. I have got rather lazy here in the US with measurements, the scale is a blessing.
That's great - the measurements don't easily convert for all my recipes but this one fit well.