Gooey Oatmeal Cake

Sunday, I was a little antsy and looking for something to do that didn't involve being outside, so I baked a cake.  I'd been wanting to try this recipe for a while anyway.  Here it is with my tweaks...

Gooey Oatmeal Cake

Cake:

1 ½ cups boiling water

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup butter (melted)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 1.2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

dash cloves

½ tsp salt

 Topping:

¼ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 cup flaked coconut

6 T butter (melted)

¼ tsp vanilla

¼ cup milk

Put oats in a small, heat-resistant bowl.  Stir in boiling water until oats are well moistened. Allow to cool.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease 9x13” cake pan.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Beat in eggs.  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir dry mixture into wet mixture until combined.  Stir in prepared oatmeal.  Mixture will be thick.  Spread into prepared pan.  Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

While cake is baking, in medium bowl, combine white and brown sugars.  Stir in coconut.  Stir in cream and vanilla.  Stir in butter until mixture is well-combined.  When cake is ready to come out, remove it from the oven and set oven to Broil.  Spoon topping mixture in small lumps onto cake.  Lightly spread the topping mixture over the cake until its completely covered.  Place under broiler for 2-4 minutes or until bubbling and slightly browned.  Remove and cool completely before cutting and serving.  To serve warm, microwave individual pieces of cake for 15 seconds.  Top with vanilla ice cream.

The original recipe called for nutmeg... which I hate... so I threw in a dash of ground cloves.  It also called for cream in the toppine, which I don't keep in the house, so I used milk.  Which might've made the topping a bit wetter than intended, but the wet makes it gooey, I guess. Next time I make this, I might not use the topping and just see how the cake is without it.