Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

I saw this in the April issue of Cooking Light and knew I had to make it. I finally got the opportunity to yesterday and I can't believe I waited so long to make it. It was sooooo delicious. The cake is moist and just perfect. When my husband had a bite his first words were "mmmmmm you'll be making this again". (Except, with a mouthful of cake it sounded more like mmmmyulllbemakingisagain". )

I changed a few things from the original recipe. For the frosting, instead of almonds I used oats and I think it turned out great. When I was making the frosting, I wasn't paying attention and poured in regular sugar instead of brown sugar. I was stirring and stirring, and it just didn't look (or taste) like I thought it should. I read back over the recipe and sure enough it was supposed to have brown sugar. I added some brown sugar in and everything seemed fine.

When I poured the frosting over the cake, I didn't use all of it because I was afraid with double the sugar it would be too sweet. The frosting isn't really a regular frosting, it's sticky and caramelized. So, so, so good! The optional whipped topping and cinnamon mentioned at the end of the recipe is a must!

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake
Adapted from: Cooking Light, April 2008



Ingredients
Cake:
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar object
3/4 cup chunky applesauce (Used regular, I don't like chunky applesauce)
1/3 cup honey
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted (I didn't have any almonds, so I used 1/2 cup oats)

Remaining ingredients:
1 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
Ground cinnamon (optional)


Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare cake, combine oats and 1 cup hot water in a small bowl; set aside.

3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Combine 1 1/3 cups sugar, applesauce, 1/3 cup honey, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed 1 minute. Add oat mixture; beat at low speed until well blended. Add half of flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat well. Add remaining flour mixture; beat well. Spoon batter into an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 48 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place dish on a wire rack.

4. To prepare frosting, melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey; cook 2 minutes or until bubbly, stirring constantly. Stir in almonds. Quickly pour frosting over cake; spread evenly using a rubber spatula.

5. Preheat broiler.

6. Broil cake 1 minute or until frosting is bubbly and golden. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve with whipped topping; sprinkle with ground cinnamon, if desired.


Yield
16 servings (serving size: 1 cake piece and 1 tablespoon topping)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 255(19% from fat); FAT 5.4g (sat 2.1g,mono 1.7g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 3.4g; CHOLESTEROL 34mg; CALCIUM 40mg; SODIUM 193mg; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 1.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.9g