Delicious Oatmeal Cake with Caramel Pecan Frosting!!!

I love this cake!!!! When I tell most people what it is I get weird faces looking at me like I am nuts but once they have their first bite they are true believers! This was made recently for a birthday at work but in the past I have made it for Thanksgiving and with some vanilla ice cream on the side it is delicious!!

The caramel frosting is delicious and this time I added a little extra (2 1/2 tablespoons) of evaporated milk to make it a little thinner but this icing is definetly not good for a piping bag...it is too thin! Also, I think my biggest excitiement when making this cake was I discovered small cans of evaporated milk at Whole Foods, one was almost perfect for this cake and instead of throwing away a whole can I only had a little bit left over!







OATMEAL LAYER CAKE
Source: Cooking Light)

INGREDIENTS

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups boiling water
1 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable shortening (I use butter)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat bottoms of 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pan), and line bottoms of pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray, and dust with 1 tablespoon flour.

Combine water and oats in a medium bowl; let stand 20 minutes. Beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, shortening, and vanilla at medium speed of a mixer for 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add oatmeal, beating until blended.

Lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Sharply tap pans once on counter to remove


CARAMEL PECAN FROSTING
(Source: Cooking Light)

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter or stick margarine
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans


Preparation
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar. Cook 3 minutes; stir constantly with a whisk. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool. Stir in vanilla. Combine butter mixture and powdered sugar in a bowl; beat at high speed of a mixer until smooth. Frost cake as directed; sprinkle with pecans.
Note: If it's too thick, add 1 tablespoon evaporated fat-free milk.

Yield
2 cups