St Louis gooey butter cake
I tasted my first piece of gooey butter cake back in 2015 on a trip to NYC and I have literally been dreaming about it ever since. It was something I had never encountered, and this sweet confection with the most wonderful texture sent me directly to food heaven. This buttery cake has a very unique texture and is so delicious.
Crispy on the top, gooey in the middle, and with a light base, this was all I could have dreamed of in a baked good. It came from Gooey & Co and they sell them in bite-size portions which are really all you can manage at a time. I also met Matt the owner/founder/chief baker, and I instantly became a fan.
I did some research and discovered it originates in St Louis and the cake was supposedly first made by accident in the 1930s by a German American baker who was trying to make regular cake batter but reversed the proportions of butter and flour. This was a flop that went well and so they kept on making it. The same thing happened with the tart tartin so it all makes perfect sense.
I found a few recipes that use yeast in the base component of the dish and others that use a cake batter, but they all seemed rather complicated so when I found this recipe, I decided it was the one I would go with to make my first gooey butter cake. It also claimed to be THE BEST gooey butter cake in the world and from a respected blogger who clearly knows what she’s talking about. I also liked the idea of the shortbread-type base.
I’ve adapted the recipe to make it metric, upped the vanilla a smidge and used already-ground almonds as these are readily available. Why ground your own when it’s not necessary? Otherwise, I followed it pretty exactly. I also did add the almond extract because I love the flavour of almonds but this is optional. I think this is a good cake to play around with by adding flavours and I can imagine a lemon rendition being very delicious too.
I warn you that this is incredibly rich and you are advised to cut very small squares of it. One friend who ate it refers to it as the BTS cake (better than sex) so I’ll just leave that there for you to ponder on. It’s kind of a mash-up between a pasteis de nata, malva pudding and shortbread.
All around it’s a winning recipe and reminded me of the piece I tasted from Gooey & Co at Smogasburg in Williamsburg. Not exactly the same but as close as.
The recipe makes one tray around 23 x 32 cm or 9 x 13 inch or so. Very slightly adapted from A Spicy Perspective
Ingredients
For the Bottom Layer:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup almond flour ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 170 gms butter melted (12 tablespoons)
For the Top Layer
- 250 gm 8 ounces cream cheese
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 550 gm 4 cups icing / powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almonds extract optional
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180C / 350 degrees F. Line a 23 x 32 cm or 9 X 13 inch baking dish with baking paper.
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Add the flour, sugar, almond flour, baking powder, and salt to a food processor and mix briefly to ensure all the dry ingredients are well combined. Add the eggs and butter and mix until you have a soft crumbly like dough.
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Tip this dough into the lined baking pan and spread evenly across the surface. Don't press down to firmly, you just want to lightly cover the surface.
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To make the top layer wipe the same food processor bowl and add the cream cheese, and mix until it has softened. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until it is well combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary. You should get to a lump-free and smooth consistency similar to condensed milk.
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Pour the mixture over the bottom layer and place it on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes. I found, 55 minutes worked well in my oven. At 60 minutes the bottom started to over brown. The top will be golden in colour and have a few cracks on the surface. If necessary cover the tray loosely with a piece of foil from around halfway through the baking time to prevent over-browning (* I generally always do this).
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Allow the gooey butter cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin. To speed up the cooling, pop it in the fridge or freezer for a short while. A firmer cake is easier to slice.
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Add a dusting of powdered sugar for decoration.
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Good heavens… That looks INCREDIBLE!
Ah Sam, thank you so much for this recipe! I tried my first Butter Cake when we went to Holland last year, and even it wasn’t very gooey, I was hooked.. I can not wait to try this version of Butter Cake as it sounds incredible! 🙂
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Yana 🙂
Thanks Ilse – It was really delicious
Oh Sam you’re killing me !!! Roll on Friday baking day ;))))))
Believe me, I´ll be trying this recipe soon. Since I saw your story in IG I was waiting for this post. I´ll let you know 😉
I’m from St. Louis, and this is a very important dessert in our culture! There is even a restaurant here that specializes in different flavors. It’s kind of amazing 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gooey_butter_cake
I shall be making this for sure!!!! Looks decadent and yummy!
It sounds good and looks good too. What about the metric conversion you promised? I find flour especially difficult to measure out correctly. Would appreciate it very much. I might have to substitute the cream cheese. Any idea what to use?
580 gm icing sugar for the top layer? Isn’t it too much?
Hi Diane its 4 cups of icing sugar in the original recipe. That’s what I weighed it out at.
Awesome Donae – I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
So I hear Anne and I put the Wikipedia link in my post for that reason. I do notice other recipes using yeast in the base? Including the New York Time recipe. That seems very different from the original and what I tasted in NYC.
Awesome and I look forward to hearing your take on it.
I hope you enjoy it Linda
Hi Sigrid, I should have said partial metric conversion because I never mind measuring out flour or granulates sugar because the bags are quite big. Powdered sugar and butter are much harder. I doubt there can be any substitute for the cream cheese, it’s a core ingredient. If the recipe doesn’t suit you, which it doesn’t seem to, rather find another recipe that is better suited to your needs.
These are great! I love the look of this cake and I love almonds too. I have to make this.
Must you use Almond flour? If so I’ll stick to using box cake mix
What are you doing to me? This looks amazing. Now I have to bake and neglect my work. Thanks a lot 🙂
Hey Chanene #sorrynotsorry x
Hi Mary I think the almond flour is so nice but I mean you must adapt it however you want to, I just don’t have any idea how it will turn out.
I think you will like this Angela, I mean you are after all the baking queen x
Tried it on the weekend. Loved it. Didn’t quite brown as much as your pics, so may leave tinfoil off next time – or only use later in the cooking process. Great for a crowd – will definitely be on my regular list.
Awesome Shelley – Im so glad it worked out for you. Ja all our ovens are different and I baked these in my compact oven which tends to brown things a little more than my big oven.
Absolutely divine. We ate them – cut into little squares- with after dinner coffee.
This looks so good! Butter cake is such a great way to elevate a cake!
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
I have made them before and they are incredible delicious.
But I would like to make them for a charity cake sale tomorrow but it needs to be nut free, so could I substitute the almond flour with something else? x
Hi Rachel, I have not tested this recipe with all flour but I am sure it will be fine. The texture will change as well as the taste but should work out