oatmeal cake

I'm glad you like the idea of the weekly soup. Photos of the soups would be nice too, so you can see what they're like, although most soups don't look like much. The mushroom and barley soup is just dark brown with bits floating in it, so not very aesthetic :)

In a fit of restlessness last night, I made a cake from a recipe I found in the Joy of Cooking. I'd been teasing my husband by reading bits of cake recipes out-loud, and this is the one we decided to try first (my husband is a big fan of oatmeal). This turned out more photogenic than the soup, so I thought I would share the recipe. The cake is dense and moist, and tastes a lot like oatmeal cookies. When I make it again I might add some raisins and walnuts. I cut down on the sugar a little, but otherwise this is right from the book.


Ingredients
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13" baking pan.
Place rolled oats in a small bowl and add water. Let stand until water is absorbed (about 10 min). Meanwhile, mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
In a medium bowl, at high speed beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.
On slow speed, beat in oat mixture, then dry ingredients until blended.
Scrape batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool briefly on rack.

This is delicious on it's own while still hot, or have it with ice cream or vanilla yogurt. Once it cools, you can ice it with your preferred icing. I've put on some store-bought icing with nutmeg added, but I bet cream cheese icing would taste good with this cake too.

I've also been working on a little surprise for you guys, which I'll write more about this weekend.