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.
Now the topping — and this part moves fast, so have it ready before the cake comes out of the oven. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the coconut, nuts, brown sugar, and evaporated milk. Stir it all together until the sugar dissolves and everything is combined. It’ll be thick and a little loose. That’s what you want.
The second you pull the cake from the oven, spread the topping over it. Don’t wait. The heat from the cake helps everything meld together, and some of that caramel-y topping will sink into the top just slightly.
Then put it under the broiler. Stay there. Don’t walk away. Don’t go check your phone. Stand at the oven and watch it — usually three to four minutes is all it takes, but broilers vary and the line between “gorgeous and golden” and “oh no” is narrow. Pull it when the top is dark and bubbling and smells like burnt caramel in the good way, not the bad way.