Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Oatmeal Cake and Caramel Sauce


When I first read about Lori's oatmeal cake at her blog, My Wooden Spoon, I was skeptical as to how something containing oatmeal could actually be good. I continued to read the recipe and thought that it sounded easy enough and maybe it could be good with the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, so I decided to try it. Well, Lori was right. The cake is delicious! We had to make an effort to not eat the whole cake in one sitting! Here's the recipe with a few small modifications to suit us, including a different caramel sauce only because I had already made some for something else.

For the oatmeal cake:



INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda

STEPS
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour an 8x11-inch casserole dish.
  • Mix the water, oats and butter and let stand for 15 minutes.


  • In another bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.


  • Add the oatmeal mixture to the sugar mixture and mix well. Bake in an 8x11-inch casserole dish at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
For the caramel sauce:



INGREDIENTS
1 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk

STEPS
  • In a two or three-quart saucepan, melt the sugar over medium-high heat. You can add 1 tablespoon of water to help the sugar melt more evenly if you think it will burn. Whisk or stir the sugar to help it heat evenly.
  • Cook the liquified sugar to a dark copper-brown colour. Then add the butter and stir it in.
  • Pour in the evaporated milk, then turn off the heat. Be careful as the sauce will froth up when you add the milk. Whisk the sauce until it is smooth. If you like it thicker, you can continue to heat the sauce until it thickens.
  • Drizzle over the warm cake. You can store the rest in a jar for a few weeks. It will probably be a bit thicker, but you can reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds.