I’m mad for maple. If you make me choose, I’d sneak a mickey of the stuff over sensible survival gear when the apocalypse comes. Okay, okay, you know that already by now as I’ve doused it on blueberries and apple and twirled it in ice cream.
Crucial for all of these is not simply a good syrup, but a great one. We’ve got a stash of syrup bottles in the fridge, from bourbon to vanilla bean, because, hey, why stop at one?
For this moist little gem, try an amber syrup.
Maple Oatmeal Coffee Cake
…for tweaking a mundane morning into something spectacular. It’s adapted from a similar coffee cake made by my mother, one devoured in minutes by our family of seven when I was a kid.
What you need:
For cake:
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ²⁄3 cup boiling water
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup ( ½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup packed golden brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¹⁄3 cup maple syrup ( I use Amber #2 from Forbes)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For topping:
- 1/3 cup maple syrup (see above)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- ½ cup shredded coconut (I use sweetened but unsweetened is okay too)
- ½ cup chopped toasted pecans
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 inch square cake pan.
- Place oats in small bowl. Cover with the boiling water. Set aside for 10 minutes for oats to soften.
- Sift flour, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in medium bowl.
- Cream softened butter and brown sugar together in mixer until fluffy. Add egg and scrape down sides after blending.
- Add maple syrup and vanilla and beat until combined.
- Add half of dry ingredients. Beat until combined. Add oatmeal/water mix (oats should have soaked up water by now) and beat until combined. Add rest of dry ingredients. Beat again until combined.
- Transfer batter to greased pan and bake for 30 minutes. Tester should come out clean.
- Make topping while cake bakes by combining butter and maple syrup in small pot on stove on low heat. When butter is melted, turn up the heat to medium/high and let mixture boil for 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and sour cream.
- Add coconut and toasted pecans. Stir and set aside.
- When cake is out of oven, spread topping over top of cake. Let cool completely before cutting.
It won’t last that long, but this cake tastes even better the day after you make it. All that syrup soaks in just enough to maintain a delicious moist crumb. And don’t skimp on the toasted pecans.
Serves 8 little squares of sweet perfection. Yum!
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