Irish Oatmeal Cake

As I promised, here is the recipe for the oatmeal cake I baked yesterday for Marks birthday. This recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. Everything I have baked from this book has been fabulous!

Irish Oatmeal Cake

Cake:

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Butterscotch Frosting: ( I made 1 1/2 times the recipe, we like a lot of frosting)

6 tbsp butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour two 9" cake pans.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a blender, whirl the oats to a consistency of cornmeal. Stir them into the flour mixture and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the vanilla and buttermilk and add alternatively with the flour mixture. Mix until well blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a knife tests clean and the cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan. Cool in the pans for about 5 minutes and then turn out onto racks to cool completely. 

For the frosting, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the brown sugar and simmer on very low heat for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Cooking the brown sugar creates a smoother frosting, so don't cheat on the time.)

Transfer the butter-brown sugar mixture to a bowl. With an electric mixer, beat in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Add the milk a little at a time until the frosting is smooth and creamy. While the frosting is still warm, fill and frost the cake.

Serves 12 to 16.

Happy Birthday To Mark!

Today is.. almost was, Mark's birthday! He asked me not to post his photo up, like I normally do, so here you go, a slice of his cake instead. I asked him the other day what kind of cake he wanted.. he replied oatmeal. I do believe he was kidding but that is what I baked him, an Irish Oatmeal Layer Cake! It is delicious, very much like an old fashioned oatmeal cake his mom bakes. I will try to post the recipe tomorrow, I am too tired tonight.

We had a delicious dinner, he picked it out of the March issue of Gourmet.. I will also post those recipes tomorrow too!

So, Happy Birthday to you Mark!! It was a quiet birthday but very nice!!

Mocha Walnut Torte

This is my moms birthday cake, not the nicest photo. I should have cleaned the plate up a little before I took the photo. It is however a delicious cake, yum!

mocha pecan torte

The recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts, however I made a couple of changes to the recipe today for this cake. The recipe in the book is Mocha Walnut Torte. I substituted pecans for the walnuts, and I doubled the frosting recipe, and split the layers and   made a 4 layer cake. I will give you the recipe for the Mocha Walnut Torte. 

Mocha Walnut Torte

Cake:

1 1/2 cups walnuts

6 eggs, separated

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 tbsp. instant coffee granules

1/4 cup very hot water

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of two 9" pans with 9" parchment circles. Butter and flour the bottoms and sides of the lined pans.

In a food processor or in a small batches in the blender, whirl the walnuts until ground or finely chopped but not a paste. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks for 3 to 4 minutes, until light in colour. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. dissolve the coffee in the hot water. With the mixer on medium speed, resume beating the egg yolks and add the coffee in a slow steady stream. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa into the batter and stir until well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the batter and then gently fold in the rest in two equal batches. Fold in ground nuts.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes, until the cakes are firm and pull away form the sides of the pans. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes before inverting onto a rack and removing from the pans.

When the cake shave cooled, prepare the frosting. With a whisk or electric mixer, beat the cream until frothy and beginning to thicken. Add the vanilla and sift in the icing sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Frost the cake and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. the frosted torte will keep for 3 or 4 days, Chill any leftovers.

Serves 12. Enjoy!