Recipe(tried): Butterscotch Picnic Cake and Whipped Caramel Frosting

I've used this recipe many, many times. It contains oatmeal and makes a dense, moist cake which has a good flavor even if you choose to omit the chopped butterscotch morsels from the topping. When made exactly the way it's written, it needs no frosting at all; but you might want to alternately add chopped walnuts and/or chopped butterscotch morsels to the batter before baking so that you can top it with the frosting of your choice.

Butterscotch Picnic Cake

1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) butter or margarine
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk*
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup (6 oz.) butterscotch morsels, chopped
1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter the inside of a 9" x 13" cake pan.

Beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla; mix well. (Mixture may look curdled; that's ok.)

Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, mixing well after each addition. Stir in oats. Pour into a greased 9"x13" baking pan.

Combine chopped butterscotch pieces and nuts; sprinkle over top of batter. Bake in preheated 350 F oven about 30-35 minutes. Cool before serving.

* To make sour milk for this recipe, pour 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar or lemon juice into a 2-cup glass measure. Add milk to the 1 1/2 cup mark. Let stand 5 minutes before using.

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Try this version of mocked whipped cream frosting. The caramel flavor will perfectly accent the oatmeal cake. If you prefer a white version, use white sugar instead of brown. Many recipes for the white frosting call for 1/2 cup of Crisco and 1/2 cup of butter. This will frost and fill two 8" or 9" layers.

WHIPPED CARAMEL FROSTING

5 tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine flour and milk in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until boils and makes a very thick paste. Remove from heat and chill (or cool completely to room temp).

Beat butter in an electric mixer until light. While beating on high speed, add sugar by tablespoonfuls until it is no longer grainy. Beat in vanilla. Continue beating and drop in the milk mixture by tablespoonfuls at a time until frosting is light and fluffy.