Some days you may feel all high falutin' and fancy pants. You may want to execute a beautifully complicated elegant dessert with glazes and chocolate curls and gold leaf. Other days you may want to put on your ripped jeans (or just stay in your pj's), snarf down something sweet and keep it real. This recipe is for you my friend. It's from one of my favorite bakers, the boys behind Baked Explorations. Not to be all bossy but GO GET THIS BOOK. You won't regret it.
The cake has a caramel-y flavor from the dark brown sugar and a wonderful oatmeal cookie vibe from the oatmeal and cinnamon. The recipe says you can serve it as a breakfast treat without the cream cheese frosting...to which I say "You don't know me very well, do you?" Make the frosting. The cake is great the day of but even better the day after you make it.
I confess, I tried to go a little fancy pants on you by turning it out of the pan and trying to cut perfectly neat and perpendicular rectangles of cake just to impress you. Yeah. That didn't work so well. So don't do that. Who do I think I am anyway? So I'm back to keeping it real. And eating it out of the pan with a fork. Sorry, was that a little too real for you?
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| Deliciousness before beauty |
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| Post-fork apocalypse |
Ever so slightly adapted from Baked Explorations
Yield: 1 9 x 13 inch cake
8 ounces milk chocolate chips
1/2 t Scotch, bourbon, or rum or favorite liquor
1 1/2 cups plus 2 T all-purpose flour
1 c rolled oats
1 1/4 c boiling water
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into cubes
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 t cinnamon
Frosting:
5 T unsalted butter, softened
5 1/2 ounces cream cheese, at room temp
2 c confectioners sugar
3/4 t vanilla
a small pinch of salt
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Using baking spray (or butter) coat the sides and bottom of 9 x 13 baking pan. Boil the 1 1/4 cups of water.
2. In a small bowl, toss chocolate chips with the liquor. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the chips and toss until coated.
3. Place oats and cubed butter in a large bowl. Add boiling water and wait 30 seconds. Stir to melt butter and moisten oats. Set aside for 30 minutes.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sugars, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Fold in cooled oatmeal mixture and stir until well combined. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and the chocolate chips. Gently combine.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan before frosting.
6. To prepare frosting, mix butter and confectioners sugar in a standing mix or using a hand mixer. When completely combined, add the softened cream cheese and vanilla and pinch of salt. Combine until smooth.
7. Spread frosting over cooled cake and refrigerate to set up before serving.
