worthy of a double take

Six years ago, I featured this cake. SIX YEARS. Where does the time go?

I try not to repeat recipes on the blog, but after six years, I thought it'd be okay to bring back a cake that deserves a lot of attention and is certainly awesome enough for a place in your regular dessert rotation. It's delicious, it's not terribly unhealthy, it keeps well, and it's easy to make using ingredients your probably keep on hand--these are all things that I consider when I'm deciding whether or not a dessert is worthy of making again, especially when I need some form of cake to commemorate a couple of birthdays. Those only come around once a year, you know.

I've tweaked the recipe just a little bit in the past six years, and those changes are reflected below. I've tried other alterations too, including soaking the oats in hot applesauce and cutting back the sugar or soaking them in a combination of milk and water. While those attempts were not bad by any definition of the word, I think I still prefer the version made with just plain ol' hot H2O.

...to me and my very significant other.

Other twists you might enjoy, including one I now regularly include, are adding nuts to the broiled topping (pecans are my choice, but almonds or walnuts would be tasty too), mixing some coconut into the cake batter itself, replacing half of the butter in the batter with coconut oil, and/or making cupcakes (fork-appropriate--that topping gets pretty gooey)(you'll get somewhere between 24 and 30, depending on how full you fill the cups with batter). When all is said and done, though, the simple, straightforward oatmeal cake topped with that lusciously sticky frosting is fine and dandy just as it is.

Yep, lots of things have had big-time changes over the past six years (like, say, my life), but some things haven't...and that's pretty okay fantastic.

Any (and All) Occasion Oatmeal Cake
Makes a 13x9-inch cake
Ingredients:
Cake:

• 1 cup quick-cooking or rolled oats
• 1-1/4 cups boiling water
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Coconut Topping:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces

Directions:
For the cake, preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 13x9-inch cake pan.
Combine oats and boiling water, stirring to blend well. Let stand 20 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars really well, about 5 minutes.
Add the eggs, vanilla, and cooled oatmeal mixture, beating until well blended.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beating until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, prepare the topping. Combine the milk, butter, and brown sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly; stir in the coconut and pecans.
When the cake comes out of the oven, poke several holes in it with the tines of a fork and immediately spread the topping over the hot cake. Turn the broiler on and return the cake to oven for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the coconut is nicely toasted.