I love oats. I also love cake. Whats not to love about oat cake? Especially for a quick breaky with a steaming cup of coffee – I am in heaven. This recipe is so easy, and comes out beautifully rustic, with a chewy crust and gooey inside. Its dense, filling and absolutely delightful.

Oats are such an incredibly soothing food. Think of when you had chicken pox as a child, what did your mom do for you? My mom put me in an oat bath. Same fix goes for poison ivy or poison oak. Oat baths, lotions, etc. are all ways we calm inflammation on the outside of our bodies, and it works the same on the inside too! Who knew it could offer incredible flavor, as well as healing – what an incredibly capable little grain!

There is more. Oats can be so much more! Lets look at their potential, specifically through the process of fermentation.

Fermenting, soaking, sprouting – I’m sure you’ve heard these terms before. Altering food with these and other nutrient boosting and preserving methods has to be one of the most intriguing tools Ive added to my kitchen. I apply it in so many areas! It began with Kombucha and Kefir. Then double fermenting my Kefir, then even making Kefir cheese and ice cream! Ive made my own sauerkraut, and lacto-fermented many vegetables from my garden. Ive adopted soaking, sprouting and dehydrating all my nuts and seeds, grains and legumes!

Why?

Whole foods found in nature possess a self preserving property called Phytic Acid. This compound behaves as a preservative to its source in its natural environment. Phytic Acid  is also the energy source which affords the plant its ability to sprout – two both very necessary and incredible aspects of this natural preservative. Here is an example of how it works in nature: Almonds, (which are high in Phytic Acid) when found in their native lands, and not grown on large farms, enjoy the rain/flood season right at their peak. The almonds then naturally undergo a soaking, and become sprouted. Its amazing, isn’t it! God has thought of everything.

Whats are the benefits of this?

While Phytic Acid can do us a favor in preserving and activating our foods, it comes with its downsides. The self defense mechecnism inhibits our bodies ability to digest and absorb the nutrients found in those nuts, seeds, legumes and grains. It hinders the bioavailability of those foods, resulting in malnutrition, malabsorption, and the diseases brought on by that.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t live in the rainforest where I can easily scavenge for nuts that have been naturally soaked and sprouted for me. So thats where this tool comes in handy. By soaking, sprouting and fermenting our foods, we not only remove the harmful enzyme inhibitor, Phytic Acid, but we multiply the benefits of the food that we activate! To list just a few,

• It promotes beneficial bacteria
• The fermented food will actually generate more vitamins and minerals
• The nutrients there will be made bioavailable instead of inhibited/undigested
• It Balances your PH levels
• It eats away at the natural sugars, reducing the Glycemic Index
• Its acts as an incredible cleanse for your body

I will be so happy if you all are still with me! I could talk hours and hours on fermenting/soaking/sprouting – we’ve only covered the very basics. However, I promised a recipe, and I will get to it – I think you’ll enjoy it so much more now that you understand the hows and whys this oatmeal cake is so awesome!

                                                                    The happenings.

It was bubbling for a good 10 minutes after opening the Jar. And I couldn’t stop giggling! My husband looked at my like I was crazy, but I see him smirk out of a little shared excitement when my experiments are successful.

At this point, you may just decide to cook up your oats like this for breakfast! Its what my boys have nearly every morning. I’ll add some fresh apples from the tree in our backyard, cinnamon, sea salt and peanut butter.. its perfection. And if you like oatmeal more often, keep a quarter of the oats in the jar, and use them as a starter for the next batch. They’ll ferment quicker and add a whole new dimension to the flavor.

To ferment the oats you’ll need:

• 1 quart mason Jar
• 2 Cups steel cut oats
• Water
• 1/2 tsp Sea salt

Place your oats in the quart mason Jar, and fill it to the top with warm water. Add the sea salt, (this helps break down the enzyme inhibitors quicker) give it a quick stir, put on the lid, and set it in a spot outside the reach of sunlight. To properly ferment, I let mine sit for a minimum of 3 days. Sometimes up to 7, it all depends on your taste, and preference.  Keep in mind you may have to burp your jar, slowly removing the lid to let the air pressure release so your jar doesn’t explode. Look for a lid thats puffing up in the center. Also keep in mind that you dont want oats exposed to the air. So keep a layer of water covering your oats. I find I sometimes need to stir the jar and add a little water through the fermentation process.

So, so beautiful.

Once the oats are to your liking, its time to bake.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Throw into your blender:

• Oats (the whole jar full, water and all)
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tbsp Ceylon Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt
• 4 Eggs or 20g Beef Gelatin 
• 1/8 tsp Pure Stevia (I use THM)

Puree all of the above ingredients until you have a cohesive batter.

Thats it, pour the batter into the desired pan, (I used a 10×10) then place in your pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. Let it cool, and enjoy!!!