Chocolate Oatmeal Cake and the Lake

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. As always we headed down to Cedar Creek Lake for our annual 4th of July lake trip. Harper got to hang out with her great grandparents (we call them the Boogs), her grandparents Yogi and Lala, her aunt Leah and uncle Jeffery, and cousins Bear, Georgia, and Mary Martha.

It’s so much fun to see little kids play together. Harper could not stop laughing at Georgia who is 4 years old. Georgia was making funny faces with Harper which tickled her to no end. Bear, who is 6 years old, is super sweet and gave Harper lots of kisses.

We rode jet skis, played dominoes, and saw the best fireworks show ever! Words can’t explain how cool it was to sit out in the middle of a dark lake, surrounded by probably 30 concurrent firework shows all happening at the same time. Unreal!

Matt brought his cowboy hat and everyone seemed to enjoy wearing it as well.

The food we had at the lake was sooo good! For lunch Paula made chicken salad, and homemade pico de gallo. For dinner we grilled out chicken, and corn on the cob, and had ribs and brisket.

Desserts are always the showstoppers. We’re never short for sweets at the lake. Boog made her famous chocolate chip bundt cake, and two pecan pies. Paula made four layer dessert and a 4th of July berry trifle with strawberries, blueberries, and pound cake.

I always bring my Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies, and this year I also brought a few slices of this chocolate oatmeal cake my mom made.

chocolate oatmeal cake

Adapted from Pinch of Yum blog, this chocolate oatmeal cake is a unique twist on the classic chocolate sheet cake.

I’m not going to lie, this chocolate oatmeal cake may require a tie-breaker with my all-time favorite Mrs. Kelm’s chocolate cake. That’s saying a lot given that I’ve eaten Mrs. Kelm’s chocolate cake for the past 27 years!!

The great thing about this cake (in my opinion), is the texture. Some people may not like it, but you can taste the chewiness from the quick oats, and chunks of chocolate chips that didn’t quite melt in the cake. Whereas Mrs. Kelm’s cake is smooth, this one has a unique consistency. They both have that sweet, milk-chocolatey delicate taste that I love.

Mini marshmallows are the secret ingredient and are used in the frosting. They melt, so you can’t see them, but leave behind a subtly sweet flavor, and add to the thickness of the gooey chocolate frosting.

chocolate oatmeal cake

If you like oatmeal and chocolate sheet cake, this is the cake for you. If new textures don’t bother you, you’ll love this cake just as much as I did. I may be switching off birthday cakes from now on!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 20

Adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 3/4 cup boiling water
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips, divided (go for Ghirardelli)
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
6 Tbsp. milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup chocolate chips (Ghirardelli)
3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
FOR THE CAKE: With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and mix well. Add flour, soda, salt and cocoa and mix until just incorporated. The batter will be very thick.
Add boiling water to oatmeal and let stand for a few minutes. Once oats are soft, add oats/water mixture to the batter and mix well. Stir in half the bag of chocolate chips (6 ounces).
Pour into a greased or buttered 9×13-inch cake pan. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the rest of the bag of chocolate chips (6 ounces).
Bake for 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the surface springs back lightly when touched. Do not overbake. Let cool completely.
FOR THE FROSTING: Melt the butter, sugar, and milk in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 30 seconds.
Reduce heat to low and add chocolate chips and marshmallows. Stir or whisk until frosting is smooth. Pour immediately over the cooled cake. The frosting crystalizes almost immediately as it cools so it’s important to get it on the cake while it’s still piping hot. Allow the frosted cake to cool before serving.

Patriotic Fruit Skewers for Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is enjoying their day! With nice weather in Texas, we’ll be out enjoying the sun all day long.

If you’ve got plans for grilling out or meeting up with friends, check out this super simple Patriotic Fruit Skewer recipe below.

With patriotic red, white and blue colors of strawberries, blueberries, and marshmallows, these fruit skewers are perfect for backyard BBQs on Memorial Day and/or the 4th of July. Drizzle a little chocolate fudge sauce on top, and you’ve got a winner!

You can arrange the fruit any way you want. I threaded 3 blueberries, followed by a strawberry and marshmallow, and repeated the pattern three times. You can also thread fudgy brownie bites on these as well! I plan on baking these chewy brownies today, and will be adding them to the fruit skewers.

Don’t forget the chocolate fudge sauce; you could even dust them in powdered sugar. Yum!

Patriotic fruit skewers — Thread fruit onto skewers, alternating between three blueberries, 1 strawberry and 1 jumbo marshmallow.

Perfect for Memorial Day or 4th of July festivities!

Enjoy! What are your Memorial Day plans?

We’re going to swim and grill out with neighborhood friends.

Patriotic Fruit Skewers

Ingredients

stainless steel or wooden skewers
1 pint strawberries
1 pint blueberries
1 package jumbo-sized marshmallows
chocolate syrup

Instructions

Wash and dry berries. Cut the stems off of the strawberries.
Thread berries and marshmallows on skewers, alternating with three blueberries, 1 strawberry and one jumbo-sized marshmallow.
Drizzle chocolate syrup over fruit if desired.

Deborah’s White Sangria and Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!!

As I have mentioned before, I write a “Resident Recipe” column for our weekly neighborhood magazine. For the July issue, my good friend and neighbor, Deborah submitted a refreshing sangria recipe sure to keep you cool during those hot Texas summer months.

Although my husband and I do not drink, I thought Deborah’s story behind this white sangria recipe was great. Here’s her story:

When Deborah and her husband, Scott’s niece became engaged last year, they wanted to throw a party to celebrate. Fast-forward and their “little” party turned into a Tex-Mex fiesta for 80 people. Of course they need something to wash down all the food, so Deborah went in search of a sangria that was white so if it spilled either in the house or on the loggia/pool deck area, it wouldn’t stain as bad!

This recipe came from a friend of a friend…you know how that goes. For the night of the party, Deborah made roughly 6 gallons since she also had water, beer, ale, sodas, tea and lemonade. Care to guess what went first? Yep. The sangria. Plus, she must have had a dozen folks ask for the recipe. Guess that qualifies as a hit!

Ingredients
1 orange, 1 lemon and 1 lime
4 cups white grape juice
2 cups seltzer water
8 oz. peach schnapps
1 bottle chardonnay (1.5 L – the larger bottle or half the liquid ingredients if only using a standard 750mL bottle)

Directions
1. Pour the wine in a large container, then add the white grape juice and peach schnapps (NOT the seltzer). Cut the orange, lemon and lime in half then squeeze all the juice into the wine. Once squeezed, drop them into the container.
2. Refrigerate overnight (or as long as possible). Remove from refrigerator and discard the orange, lemon and lime from the beverage. Continue to chill, until ready to serve. When ready to serve, add the seltzer water.
3. Pour in large wine glasses, with a piece of frozen fruit (strawberry, peach, grape, etc.) as garnishment and to help keep chilled.