Dr Pepper Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 1/4 cups Dr Pepper (not diet)
• 1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground allspice
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the icing:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup buttermilk or half and half
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


Directions:

Grease a 9x9 cake pan and set aside.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and kosher salt and set aside.   Pour the Dr Pepper over the oats and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the oats are hydrated.  Beat the eggs and set aside.

Cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well blended. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla and stir until fluffy.  Add in flour mixture and then Dr Pepper and oatmeal to the creamed butter and eggs and stir until a thick batter is formed.

Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool.  On low heat, melt the butter, and then stir in the brown sugar, buttermilk, cinnamon, and salt.  Allow to simmer until it begins to look sticky.  Then pour over cake and put the cake back into the oven under a broiler for approximately 30 seconds so that the icing will become crispy.

Allow cake to cool again before cutting.


Myrtle's Note:  I do not like nuts or coconut in desserts, so I completely left them off of the icing.  In the original recipe, there is the suggestion to use a different icing in that case, but I stuck with the other ingredients.  I went ahead and put the cake back in the oven, per the directions, and the icing turned into something that looks like cinnamon toast.  Nice a crispy.  Except for the one spot that was a bit thick.  However, there recipe calls for putting the icing on a warm cake and I think it would work much better on a cooled cake, because my icing basically soaked into the top and sides of the cake.   Since there was no instruction to let the cake cool before cutting, I tried to cut it as soon as the icing cooled a bit.  The cake was still quite warm and crumbled into a million—albeit tasty—pieces.  Basically, I've changed the recipe to fit my tastes.  If you are a nut sort of person, follow the link to the original one.


Yield: 12-16 servings

Source:  http://www.homesicktexan.com/2012/01/dr-pepper-oatmeal-cake-coconut-topping.html