I spent this past weekend visiting my family in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. I always like to bake something when I am there (more people to eat my food!) so I decided to make a St. Louis original – Gooey Butter Cake! This cake is usually eaten as a breakfast coffee cake, and as the name indicates, it is rich!! The legend of the Gooey Butter Cake is that it was first made in the 1930s by accident. A German American baker in South St. Louis reversed the proportions of sugar and flour while trying to make regular cake batter, and the rest is history. (Read more about it here). There are several different recipes out there for this cake. The version that I grew up eating has a thin layer of dense, moist cake on the bottom and then is topped with a gooey, buttery filling. Yes, it is made with cake mix which some people might think is cheating. But I say why not take a little help when you can get it! This recipe came from my mom’s cousin, although it is very similar to Paula Dean’s recipe
You can see how gooey it is!
Gooey Butter Cake (recipe from Gaye Frederic)
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 18 ¼ oz box yellow cake mix
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
For the filling:
1 8 oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
1 16 oz box (about 4 cups) powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13×9 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, 1 stick butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 egg. Put the mixture in the prepared baking pan and lightly press it into an even layer.
In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer on medium speed, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Add 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla and 8 Tbsp melted butter, and beat until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Pour the filling over the cake layer.
Bake for 35 – 40 minutes. You want the cake to be golden brown around the edges, but very gooey in the center. Let the cake cool, then dust with powdered sugar.
Love butter cake!!!!
Mmm, me too!
Ummm too good 🙂
Thanks!! It really is too good – hard to stop at one piece!
How is it that I’ve never heard of butter cake? Haha Although I feel my arteries clog up just by looking at your photos, it looks like it’s worth the risk!!
Haha! This cake is definitely not on the healthy side – but everything in moderation, right?
Exactly! 😉
I just had something like this at a family party recently and it was SO GOOD!!! Yours looks amazing!
thank you so much!!
This look so soft and yummy. I’m going to save his to make for my weekly “Friday Treats” that I give to friends! I will eat some too. 🙂
What a fun idea to make Friday Treats!! I am constantly giving away my baked goods so that I don’t eat them all myself!
This looks amazing ! I love your pics and I can’t wait to make this STL original soon !
Thanks for the recipe gaye gaye!!
I am drooling over my keyboard right now. Looks great!
Thank you!!
Kathryn came home from college this weekend and couldn’t wait to make this. We are still in a food coma. Her boyfriend ate five squares of it! But we decided that because it is vegetarian, it must be healthy. 🙂
These look so tempting! It’s 6:30am and I’m just about to run to the grocery store in my pajamas just to get the ingredients!
Julie I love thinking about you going to the market in your pjs!! Sometimes you just need to – and this cake is definitely a good reason!