Oatmeal Cake

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake:

1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the Topping:

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup pecans (or walnuts), finely chopped
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
8–10 tablespoons evaporated milk (start with 8, see how it looks)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Pour the boiling water over the oatmeal in a bowl and leave it alone. Twenty minutes, minimum. Go do something else — fold laundry, answer an email, stand at the window and think about nothing in particular. The oats need to absorb and soften.
When they’re ready, cream your butter with both sugars. I use a hand mixer because I am not dragging out the stand mixer for this — it’s not that kind of cake. Once it’s well combined, add your eggs one at a time and beat well. Then stir in the vanilla and the oatmeal mixture. Don’t panic at how the batter looks at this point — it’s a little strange, kind of chunky. That’s normal.
Add your flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until it just comes together. Don’t over-mix — I always say that and I always mean it.
Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Bake for 30 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s set in the middle and the edges are just pulling away from the sides …