This is the kind of cake that you make when company is coming and you have NOTHING fancy in your cupboard.  The simple ingredients create a rustic cake that is elevated with a rich, almost carmel-tasting brown sugar frosting.  This is a childhood recipe that my mom used to make.  She was always good at whipping stuff up.  And, confession:  we had dessert after dinner almost every night.  That explains two things- my sweet tooth and the fact that I’ll never be a size 0.  I love dessert!

If you really want to get crazy, serve this with ice cream.  Vanilla is best, of course.  Although I made this half-recipe on the fly.  For blogging purposes, of course, and it was a perfectly acceptable after school snack.

Oatmeal Cake

(recipe from my mom)

1 cup oats

1 1/2 cups boiling water

Soak oats in boiling water for 15 minutes.  Set aside.

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (original recipe called for shortening and I changed it to butter)

Cream the sugars and butter.  Mix in 2 eggs.  Then add in oatmeal mixture.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Sift dry ingredients and add them in.  Place in a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry from the center.

Let the cake cool and then frost.

Brown Sugar Frosting

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 T. cream or milk

4 T. butter

Bring all 3 ingredients to a boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar.  Whisk together and add in 1 t. vanilla.

(My photos show a half recipe, but if you follow this recipe, make it in the 9×13 pan and it will serve 12-15 depending on how much cake you like to eat in one serving!)