I almost met Ne-Yo once. Well, I almost had a private concert that very possibly could have resulted in meeting him, but then things happened, as so often occurs with life. Back when I was but a wee sophomore in high school, the local Top 40 radio station ran a contest. The school who got the highest percentage of their students to sign a petition to always wear their seat belts would win a concert from Ne-Yo. This was back in 2006 when Ne-Yo’s only popular song was “So Sick.” I was a Ne-Yo fan, though not at the level of my grade school fandom of NSYNC and Britney Spears, but a fan nonetheless. And the chance to have a private concert by any singing sensation sounded pretty awesome.
I didn’t know much about the contest and had no idea my all-girl Catholic school was a part of it until I signed the petition with a group of girls from one of my classes not even thinking much of it. I figure I had probably been absent when the school announced the contest or scrambling to finish some homework I didn’t want to do at home. Mere days later I was certainly glad I signed, as the end of the contest was drawing near and the incredibly competitive nature of this school came out. Students who had not signed were called down to the office after morning announcements to do so. The school was determined to win.
Win they did. Excitement filled the school as the Dean of students told us we won. I was kind of expecting it as there was no stopping this school when it put its mind to something. You know by now I hated school day in and day out, so much so that after this sophomore year I began homeschooling and never looked back, but even I was super excited about this concert, this chance in a lifetime happening. What would I wear? Would I get to meet him? Could this be some kind of big break for me? Whatever it was I was ready to learn every Ne-Yo song and sing and dance my heart out.
The next day there was a decidedly different feel in the school when I walked in. Totally out of the loop almost all the time, I knew something was up but had no idea what. Instead of going to first hour, we stayed with our advisors. An important announcement would be coming our way. The seniors were more than happy to oblige in telling me what had happened without waiting for our rarely seen principal to share her words of wisdom with us. There would be no concert.
As mentioned above this was a Catholic school, and they suddenly found an issue with Ne-Yo’s lyrics, even though they hadn’t changed in the day between winning and this. Instead of a concert we would get an assembly where the principal would explain her decision. Good times. During the course of the day, my Spanish teacher had to threaten taking away our free time for the rest of the year to get us to stop talking about the concert, my religion teacher threw out the day’s lesson plan and focused on it, siding with the students for the most part, the lyrics of “So Sick” were changed to express our disdain over the situation, phone calls to the radio station were constantly made from the unsupervised cafeteria, and at the end of the day local news trucks were parked right outside the gates, as administration refused to speak to them or allow them on school property.
During the assembly, the principal pointed out the small group of students that brought the questionable lyrics to her attention and ruined things for the many, as well as the student who helped administration organize everything. The principal said the organizer agreed with the decision and was okay with it, but it made the rounds among the student body that she didn’t and wasn’t. It turns out Ne-Yo had even agreed to work with the school on eliminating questionable lyrics. But they no longer cared. I still wonder what the concert might have been like, and I am a bigger Ne-Yo fan than ever. His music always brings a smile to my face and a spring to my step. To his credit, students from my school were offered free admission to his concert at a local teen nightclub. I didn’t go and am not sure if anyone from the school did.
What does this Oatmeal Cake with Maple Glaze have to do with Ne-Yo and this almost concert? It’s a superstar of a dessert. Seriously, we’re barely into the New Year and this is totally a new favorite dessert. I saw Teaspoon Bakery featured on Unique Sweets a little while ago with this cake and wanted it immediately. Unfortunately they don’t ship, but I found the recipe on Cooking Channel’s website and put it in the to-bake queue instantly.
Though I had to tweak the recipe some, this cake did not disappoint. The cake itself is soft and moist, with a large crumb and slight chew from the oatmeal. The crust is brown and caramelized while the interior stays perfectly fluffy and cakey. I added vanilla and am thrilled with the addition, as the flavor reminds me of some muffin or cake I had as a child but a million times better. This mild, vanilla sweetness I haven’t encountered in a cake in a long time is so comforting. Then I made the glaze, only two ingredients, confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup. It is much thinner than the TV and bakery version, but I loved that. It soaks into the cake, giving it extra moisture and wonderful maple flavor. And it’s all very easy to make. You guys have to give this cake a try – I know you’ll love it. Maybe put a little Ne-Yo music on your iPod as baking accompaniment.
Oatmeal Cake with Maple Glaze
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 mins
- Yield: 9 1x
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Glaze
- 3–4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup (I used Blis Vanilla Infused Maple Syrup)
Instructions
- Make the cake. In a medium bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk. Allow to sit in the refrigerator about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 8 inch square baking pan.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. I did this by hand but a hand or stand mixer would work as well. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until once again light and fluffy. Alternately add the flour mixture and oat mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. I did three installments of flour and two of oats. Mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake come out with only a few moist crumbs. After 30 minutes the cake must be covered with foil to prevent browning. The cake should also be rotated at least once during baking. Cool cake completely in pan.
- Cut the cake into pieces. Make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and syrup until a thin glaze forms. Immediately pour over the entire cake, making sure all of it is covered and allowing it to run down the sides of the cake. Cake may be stored at room temperature in an air tight container for up to 2 days or frozen in pieces, wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for a couple hours or in a 350 degree F oven wrapped in parchment placed on top of foil for 15-20 minutes.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Teaspoon Bake Shop, courtesy Cooking Channel
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Cook Time: 55 mins
Oh my gosh!
I would love to dig into this cake. What a fantastic recipe!
Thank you! This cake is definitely fantastic. All the flavors and the soft texture . . . it’s amazing!
Moist an sweet. An excellent cake.
Glad you liked it 🙂
This really looks gooey and delicious! I will definitely be trying this one. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Steph! Please let me know if you try it. I know you’d love it 🙂
That cake looks outstanding! I love each of the elements – soft and moist, with a large crumb and slight chew, that the glaze soaked into the cake, looks awesome. Last month I made a peach-infused banana bread cake and the glaze did the same thing. The top surface of your cake reminds me of that and it’s such a great thing when it happens!
Thank you so much, Averie! The glaze is awesome. It’s thin enough for some of it to soak into the cake, making it even richer and moister than it already is, but thick enough that some stays on top. I know you’d love this.
I love oatmeal….and this looks really easy. I’ll have to make this one soon…. I seem to remember this all happening at the school. Well, one more reason you decided to home school. Hey, by the way, root for the Bengals for your aunt today…. Hugs, Debbie
Thanks, Debbie! I hope you do make it and sit down to a piece with a cup of tea. You’ll love it 🙂
This sounds delicious and I’m going to have to make it!
Please let me know if you do make it, Linda. I bet you’d love it 🙂
i was a Ne-yo fan back in the day! 🙂 This cake… has everything I love. the glaze alone sounds incredible Laura! I’ve never made an oatmeal cake before. it looks SO buttery!
Thanks, Sally! The cake has everything I love too. And it lived up to all the expectations I had for it, even though most baked goods don’t. I love this cake.
This sounds like it would pair very nicely with coffee or tea as a morning treat. How odd that your school did not think to check out the lyrics before helping in making sure that they won the contest, and what a bummer for the students. I don’t think that I know any Ne-Yo songs so maybe as I try to make this I can also expand my musical repertoire.
★★★★★
The cake would be perfect with coffee or tea, Jessica! You and Aria can jam to Ne-Yo together. Some days need a good dance party 🙂
I like oatmeal in all baked goods, I bet I’d love these!
If you like oatmeal, you would definitely like this cake. Though the oatmeal isn’t as pronounced as in an oatmeal cookie, it takes on a unique flavor and texture that is incredible!
This does look like a superstar dessert! The maple glaze sounds great, and I love the oatmeal in the cake itself.
Thanks, Lisa! It is pretty unusual to put oatmeal in a cake, but something I’ll definitely be doing again. The glaze and the cake are both great by themselves, but it is together that they come together for one amazing dessert.
That’s awful that your school cancelled the concert. How cool that would be! I too remember wondering how awesome it would be to get our own private concert at my high school. Never happened.
But this delicious moist oatmeal cake sounds like heaven! It looks so pretty. 🙂
It would have been so cool to have that concert. Clearly I haven’t gotten over it since all these years later I still think about it 😉 The cake is amazing. Thanks, Ruby!
Oh man. That sounds awful! Poor thing that sucks 🙁 I went to Catholic school too, but I had a MUCH better experience (it was pretty liberal, so that helped). I’m sorry you didn’t meet Ne-yo. I am not sorry you made this cake. Not one bit.
★★★★★
What’s so funny about my school is that it was liberal in so many ways. We were out of uniforms a good portion of the year, we rarely held mass, the cafeteria was a total unsupervised disaster, but when it came to this they suddenly found a problem with it. I’m not sorry I made this cake either. Thanks, Kayle!
I love really moist cakes! This looks wonderfully delicious and quite simple to make!
Thanks, Natalie! This cake is very simple to make, which is always nice.
The glaze made this cake. It was so moist and gooey. Very good.
★★★★★
I agree that the glaze makes the cake very special, takes it over the top. Glad you liked it 🙂
Looks really good with the glaze! Thanks so much for visiting and leaving your lovely comment. Hope you’ll give my recipe a try soon!
Thank you so much, and thanks for visiting 🙂 I really enjoyed visiting your blog!
I love this recipe… When me and my husband want a piece at night, we put two slices in the micro wave oven for 20 seconds and it goes heavenly soft. With a glass of cold milk it´s just perfect!! Thanks Laura!! Best regards from México!!
Thank you so much, Fab! I’m glad you like this cake. You reminded me of how good it is – I think I need to make it again. The microwave is the perfect way to warm it!