Week 36: Hurricane Sandy Oatmeal Cake

I have been dreading writing this post. I baked this cake a few weeks ago on October 28, the day before Hurricane Sandy hit the northeast. I baked while hoarding drinking water and preparing food that could withstand a blackout. I Googled “hurricane cake” to find a recipe fit for the occasion. And it was my hope that I’d post this cake a few days later and make light of a little rain storm that swept through. But that wasn’t the case at all. While myself and those closest to me were largely spared any damage, there are so many still working to rebuild their lives following the storm. It was a very tragic event and I don’t mean to make light of a tragedy by naming a cake after it.

So if you’re reading this and you haven’t already done so, please consider donating to a hurricane relief cause. I’m sure you’re already aware of the many relief organizations working tirelessly to provide much needed disaster relief. One of my favorites is ASPCA, a cause for which I raised money for running my first 10k last month. Since the storm hit, ASPCA staff and volunteers have been assisting in Sandy-affected areas by rescuing animals, reuniting them with their families, distributing critical supplies, and providing veterinary care. Please give to a cause if you can.

That concludes my PSA.

So as I mentioned, in the days before Sandy was scheduled to hit, I started making preparations – purchasing batteries, getting bottled water, stocking up on food, and baking cake. I looked for a hurricane-themed recipe and found this one from cooks.com. I was planning on baking a half recipe version of this cake, but in a last minute decision, went for the full recipe. I was glad I did. Here’s my mise en place.

It looks like a lot of ingredients, and I guess it was. There was a good deal of measuring. But the cake was fairly easy to prepare and well worth the time.

In full disclosure, I was following the recipe closely, but I ran out of quick cooking oats and substituted the rest I needed with maple brown sugar flavored instant oatmeal from a packet. And that added flavor may have made the cake a tad more delicious. So use plain oats, or use flavored if you’re feeling adventurous.

The first step was to dissolve 1 1/4 cups boiling water into the 1 cup of oatmeal. Then I let it sit. It looks like too much liquid, but it all turned out okay. Trust me.

Then I beat together the eggs, sugars, and oil until it was well blended. Into that mixture I sifted the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Next I stirred in the cooled oatmeal mixture and poured it into a prepared 9×13 inch pan. You’ll notice I lined my pan with foil. This is a totally unnecessary step. But I was using an old pan for this cake and some of its nonstick coating had already started to flake off. I do have a good 9×13 inch pan that I would typically use for this purpose, but I was using it for lasagna. Therefore, I lined this pan with foil to avoid any nonstick coating bits in my cake. I’m pretty sure ingesting nonstick coating bits is a health hazard, right?

This cake baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I rotated the cake halfway through.

When the cake was a few minutes from being finish, I prepared the topping by mixing 1 cup of flaked coconut, 1 cup brown sugar, 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 cup chopped nuts walnuts, and 1/4 cup evaporated milk.

As soon as the cake finished baking, I spread the topping on the cake.

I placed the cake under the oven’s broiler for a few minutes, just to brown the coconut.

Even though I should have saved the cake for the next day when the hurricane was hitting, I dug in right away. The cake was delicious. It accompanied breakfast, lunch, and dinner for me and Chris for 2 day straight and then it was all gone. Cake is essential in times of stress and this one made for delicious comfort food.

The coconut and walnut gave it a German chocolate cake quality. Though the cake contained a full cup of oatmeal, the oatmeal must have disintegrated in the batter because there were no traces of it in the finished product.