Sunday 9/7 is Grandparent's Day. We are celebrating this holiday by baking a cake that G's kids, nieces and nephews may remember their Grandma Mary baking. A simple, homey, comforting sort of cake made with oatmeal and glazed with a coconut pecan icing and logically named Oatmeal Cake. Appropriate, right?
G's sister, C, introduced me to Oatmeal Cake last weekend when we were visiting her in Kansas City. I plan to post pics from that visit in another day or so, but for today, I am featuring this cake baked by their mother. Nothing fancy, quick and easy to put together, but it is tasty! Not too sweet, slightly spicy with cinnamon, finished with an old-fashioned broiled coconut pecan icing. What is not to love?
Except wait. This is me...and I seem to have an insatiable "need" to take something good and play with it to see what else it could be. So off to the right there? In that pic above? You see blueberries and sliced almonds? Yea, those aren't from the original recipe. I did the original (that is on the right) but then I made a second batch, except I made it with some of G's famous red hot applesauce in place of the water. I took half of that second batch and added blueberries and sliced almonds and the other half and added cinnamon chips, finishing with a browned butter icing and a light sprinkling of sea salt. Crazy, huh?
And just so you know, I did both batches, start to finish, cut and ready to serve, in under an hour and a half. So this really is quick and easy!
I would love to find out from Grandma Mary's grandkiddos if they remember this original cake. G says that it tastes like he remembers, so that is a good sign! Folks at work said things like this was their new favorite way to eat oatmeal and it was "rockin'!"...that it would be "perfect for eating in the duck blind some cool damp morning!" One taster said that it reminded her of an oatmeal cake that her grandmother made years ago. I LOVE when food reminds us of family, friends, memories....
As for the applesauce oatmeal modifications, one taster was concerned that the blueberry one would be too sweet, but she found it well balanced with the dark hearty base and blueberries glazed lightly, adding that the almonds added a great texture. A win for the morning!
Ready to see the recipe and see what I did? Let's begin with the original recipe from Grandma Mary.
Soak 1 cup of oatmeal (I used quick cooking) in 1-1/2 cup of boiling water.
Cream together:
1/2 cup of shortening or butter (I used butter)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
Add 2 eggs.
Sift together:
1-1/3 cup flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
Add to the creamed mixture and then add the oats.
Bake in 13" x 9" pan, greased and floured. (I sprayed with Pam) for 35 minutes @ 350.
Spread topping on cake as soon as you take it from the oven.
Topping:
6 T. butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk (I used half-n-half)
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1 cup coconut
"Spread on cake immediately and place under broiler until brown. It just takes a few min," says Grandma Mary.
Simple. Tasty. Homey. Comforting. Loving. All the things grandmothers should be, right?
The only differences with the applesauce oatmeal is that I used 1-1/4 cups of cinnamon applesauce in place of the water. I heated it on the stove and then added 1 cup of oats to soak.
The rest of the ingredients are the same along with the mixing steps. Here is the batter being added to the oats...or really more accurately the oats being added to the batter...
...and here is the batter all mixed up! Looks sort of like a watery pink oatmeal!
I split this between two 8" round cake pans. To one I sprinkled on frozen blueberries and sliced almonds. It rather looks like a very healthy bowl of oatmeal!
And to the other, I simply sprinkled on cinnamon chips! (PS - I LOVE cinnamon chips!)
The cinnamon chip one baked up the quickest of all 3. I may have actually over baked it slightly.
Since that was the case, I spread the browned butter icing on while it was still warm from the oven so it would melt into the cake a bit. (See this brownie post for how I made the browned butter icing.) And then - just because - I sprinkled on a few more cinnamon chips, sparkling sugar, and sea salt, finishing it off with a flourish of the glaze I used on the blueberry sliced almond one. Look at that!
The original baked up next, so while I spread the icing on immediately, it was about 10 minutes more before I set it under the broiler. (I hope Grandma Mary can forgive me!)
The blueberry one took the longest, probably because the blueberries were juicy in the middle! Such a crime!
I finished this one with a simple powdered sugar glaze and a few more almonds. Yummy!
Can you think of a yummier way to eat your morning oatmeal?
I oftentimes like to add maple syrup to my oatmeal, so I did try a bite or two with some syrup on top. It makes it very sweet, no doubt, so I didn't bring the syrup into work, but if your sweet tooth doesn't seem to have a limit, you might like it!
Whether you stick with the delicious original, or embellish with applesauce and blueberries, almonds or cinnamon chips, this cake makes a yummy breakfast or dessert for anyone, especially your special grandparents!
Happy Grandparent's Day everyone! Thanks for stopping by!
No comments:
Post a Comment