By Kevin Williams
One of the activities that helps get through life under lockdown is doing some baking with the kids. Sort of. I don't like to do things that require 10 bowls to make because then there are 10 bowls to wash and, yeah, just not very fun to do afterwards.
But this was a very good, very basic cake. But we didn't have the ingredients on hand for the nutty topping, so Aster suggested we make our own frosting. And she suggested that we make up the recipe ourselves. I'm always up for an adventure, and her ingredients for it sounded reasonable. She suggested maple syrup, marshmallows, cream cheese, and vanilla....those can make the foundation for a pretty decent frosting. I told her that I think we'd need to add some powdered sugar to make the consistency (spreadability) of it better. So we did that. It took a few tweaks (added some milk when it got too thick) to get it right, but it really turned out pretty darn good. I'll put Aster's recipe below and, of course, she was so excited that she made up a frosting recipe that I'll be sharing with all of you.
The cake itself is a very flavorful cake. I can provide evidence: my 3-year-old actually ate the cake part. Usually she just licks off the frosting and is done. So I'd say the cake held up quite well.
You can use an electric mixer for the cake, probably would not be a bad idea, but I didn't feel like getting out the mixer, the beaters, etc. We did use a mixer for the frosting. So, here is our adventure in photos:
start with trusty ol' oats
the oatmeal and boiling water mixture...I accidentally spilled a little sugar in it, so ignore that.
Aster tries a spoonful of sugar...SIGH, I am a lot more permissive during this lockdown than I might typically be
Beatrice attempts to crack an egg....
Aster stirs the batter...
marshmallows for the frosting...
pulverize those marshmallows
spread it onto the cake....
- 1½ cups quick cooking oats
- 1¼ cups boiling water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- In small bowl, mix oats and boiling water; let stand 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray; lightly flour.
- In large bowl, mix sugars and butter with a wooden spoon, scraping bowl occasionally. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Beat in oat mixture and remaining cake ingredients until well blended, scraping bowl occasionally. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- 1 /3 block of cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 7 marshmallows
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- Dump all of these into a mixing bowl and turn mixer on high until a smooth, spreadable consistency. Spread onto cool cake.
Slice of cake with frosting, DELICIOUS!
Please tell Aster I am very impressed that a girl her age has such good recipe making abilities! I am going to use her recipe on my banana cake today. tell her I said thank you!
Aster said she thinks that it would taste good on banana cake and that she is glad you like her recipe, that made her day, thanks!