I feel like everywhere I look right now, all my friends who have moved from St. Louis are making Gooey Butter Cake. There must be a big waft of nostalgia floating through the air. Our friends served it at their daughter’s first birthday party. My other sweet friend from high school posted it on her instagram stories and I saw it on one of my sisters friends instagrams the week after. It is everywhere. If you have been to St. Louis this is the cake served at most back yard BBQs and family parties. It is so so so sweet and so so so delicious. I love the middle pieces that are soft and Kevin loves the edge pieces with the crispy corners. It is a match made in Gooey Butter heaven!
I searched around Pinterest for a recipe for a while and then realized that I already know who has the best recipe. My sister’s mother-in-law makes the BEST gooey butter cake. In fact, she makes a batch for my parents each year as a Christmas gift and it rarely makes it past Christmas day because everyone is always sneaking a piece or two from the tin when they don’t think anyone else is looking. Traditionally, I have been trying to bake as many things from scratch as possible on the blog, but when she sent me the recipe, she said that she uses Duncan Hines cake mix and I’m not about to mess with a good thing.
Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees and prepare a 9-by-13-inch pan by making a sling (if you would like to protect your pan) and heavily buttering the bottom and sides.
The ingredients for this recipe are in two parts. First the cake – 1 box of Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (no butter cake or extra moist cake – per Donna’s directions), 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 egg slightly beaten. The topping is 1 8-ounce block of softened cream cheese, 2 eggs, 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
To make the cake base you mix the cake mix with the melted butter and beaten egg. Then using your hands you press the cake mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the prepared 9-by-13-inch cake pan.
To make the topping, in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the softened cream cheese, the eggs, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until the ingredients are all thoroughly mixed together, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Pour the topping over the cake base, making sure the topping leaves a visible edge of the cake mixture all around the pan. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan and slice and serve.
Final thoughts:
- This is the cake of St. Louis and shouldn’t be missed!
- It always seems to disappear little by little as soon as it is finished baking.
- Watch out for little hands trying to steal your cake while you are taking pictures…
Recipe: Donna’s Gooey Butter Cake
Ingredients:
- Cake
- 1 Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- Topping
- 1 8-ounce package softened cream cheese
- 2 eggs
- 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
- Create a sling in the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch cake pan and butter the bottom and sides.
- Mix the cake mix, butter and beaten egg together and press into the pan and slightly up the sides.
- Using your whisk on a stand mixer beat the cream cheese, eggs, powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Pour the topping over the cake base being sure to leave a visible edge of cake around the sides of the pan.
- Bake for 30 – 40 minutes and allow to cool in the pan.
- Slice and serve.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Donna Sullivan
Allie and the Oven 