Carrot Cake Porridge

Good morning, friends! Today for Wednesday Breakfast Club I have another keenly adorned bowl of porridge to fill your morning. Sometimes I do want plain porridge, I swear. There are days when only rolled oats and creamy milk will do...maybe with a few nuts. But then there's those days when I just GO nuts and want more. More flavour, more texture, more toppings... This was one of those more mornings.

Did you eat a lot of carrot cake growing up? I didn't. Cream cheese frosting? Pfft, please, what even was that? Frosting to me meant powdered sugar + cocoa + warm water. When left to my own devices I'd make a tidy bowl of frosting for a snack. It's apparently confession Wednesday, Mum and Dad. I would also steal the matches, light them and watch them burn. That's not odd...

Anyway, perhaps my lack of carrot cake knowledge allows me to call this porridge assembly "carrot cake" without any sense of blasphemy. If you do feel this name to be misleading and misrepresenting of the popular cake that I now actually adore, why not throw a spoonful of cream cheese on top and we'll call it even. That'd really light my fire.

Carrot Cake Porridge

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 cup Rolled Oats
2 tablespoons Organic Sultanas (I prefer to go preservative-free when buying dried fruit)
1 & 1/2 cups Milk
1/2 cup Water
100g Carrots - I used 3 small (purple!) ones, which equates to ~1 cup grated carrot
A pinch of ground Cinnamon and Ginger (readers suggest mixed spice and nutmeg too - YES!)
2 tablespoons toasted, chopped Walnuts (or Sunflower Seeds, as I used today)
A drizzle of hulled Tahini and Pure Maple Syrup for toppings

Method
1. In a small heavy based saucepan, soak the oats and sultanas in the milk for at least 15 minutes - 30 minutes (or even longer) is desirable, allowing for noticeably creamier porridge.
2. Add the water and cook your porridge over low-medium heat for ~15 minute, stirring every now and then, encouraging it to become nice and plump and soft and creamy. Add more milk or water if required and in the last few minutes of cooking add the grated carrot and spices, stirring to combine.
3. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick pan over low heat and gently toast your walnuts until golden.
4. Serve the porridge into bowls, topped with a drizzle of tahini and maple syrup to taste, plus the seeds and, if you desire, a sprinkle of sea salt.

Heidi xo