Mamaw Mary's Oatmeal Cake Veganized

It is Father's Day, and today is a day to celebrate great dads.  My Daddy, as I've stated in an earlier post, is just amazing.  He is wonderful.  For Father's Day, I wanted to make him a great dessert, and decided on making him one that reminds him a lot of my Mamaw Mary.  She had this old Oatmeal Cake recipe that has survived around 60 years or so (Dad estimated this number).  He wanted me to make sure we could both eat it, so I veganized it.

It is an ooey gooey cake with a caramel-like sauce on top.  To make the cake ooey-er and gooey-er, you will need to poke holes in the top of the cake with a fork before pouring it over top.  This lets the sauce soak into the cake better and takes the cake to a whole new level of awesomeness.  As seen in this picture of the cake before the sauce:

And this picture of it afterwards:

This cake is not as healthy as some of my other recipes.  I wanted to keep it as close to my Mamaw's recipe as possible, and in order to do this, there are two sticks of butter (one in the cake and one in the sauce), a cup of sugar, and two cups of brown sugar (one in the cake and one in the sauce).  Not nearly as healthy, but it is a little healthier than the normal version just because it doesn't have the cholesterol from the eggs and no dairy for people like me who are allergic to it from the get go.  Veganism makes so much sense for me and to me.  I love it, even more than this cake.

Dad, Mom, and I all loved it.  It is super sweet and scrumptious.  I may be having it for breakfast tomorrow morning if Dad doesn't make it disappear before then.

Ingredients:


Cake:
1 1/2 c. boiling water
1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1 stick of Earth Balance buttery spread, melted
2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp. milled flax seed + 6 Tbsp. water)
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. whole wheat pastry four


Sauce:
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. vegan buttermilk (1/2 c. soy milk + 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar)
1 stick Earth Balance buttery spread
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 9 x 13 cake pan. 
3. Combine the oats, melted butter, and boiling water in a medium-sized bowl.  Set aside to soak for 20 minutes.
4. After the 20 minutes, in a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Stir together and set aside.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, and flax eggs until well mixed. 
6. Add in the oat mixture.   Stir until well combined.
7. Slowly pour in the flour mixture into the wet mixture, about 1/2 a cup at a time.  Combine well.
8. Pour the cake mixture into the cake pan.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. About 35 minutes into the cake baking process, you'll want to start the sauce.  Begin by combining the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a glass measuring cup.  Set aside for about 5 minutes.
10. Melt the stick of butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.
11. Add in the brown sugar and combine.
12. Add in the vegan buttermilk and maple syrup.
13. Bring mixture to a boil and let boil for 2-3 minutes (your cake should come out of the oven about this time.  Go ahead and poke holes in the top of the cake with a fork).
14. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
15. Stir in baking soda (WARNING! This will make it foam up and look like it may boil over and out of the pan).
16. Pour hot sauce over the hot cake.
17. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
18. Cut the cake, grab a plate, and chow down while still warm.


In my opinion, the cake is best while it is still warm.  Dad loves it once it has cooled off the best.  Either way, it's delicious.