Gooey and Good

The City of St Louis is known for a number of things: an arch, hockey (the Blues who, for the first time, won the Stanley Cup in 2019), baseball (the Cardinals), and St Louis City soccer.  Even the Big Lebowski demonstrated his usual excitement about the Blues' win. (Above photo credit: Blues Meme Queen)  

St Louis is also home to the St Louis Chess Club and the Gooey Butter Cake. Yes, among the arch, the athletes and the chess boards, you can find the Gooey Butter Cake.  For this week's bake, Rob chose to create this St Louis treat. 

As noted in That Skinny Girl Can Bake website: "The gooey butter cake is a St. Louis, Missouri phenomena that was supposedly an accidental invention in the 1930s. The story goes that a baker was making a coffee cake and messed up the proportions. Instead of the typical texture, the resulting dish was gooey with a pudding like center. They’re an uber-sweet layered dessert with a dense cake-like base with a luscious, sugar-laden cream cheese topping which forms a paper-thin crackled layer when baked. A sprinkle of powdered sugar is all that’s needed to finish off these gems."

Gooey Butter Cake from Scratch   

From the website: That Skinny Chick Can Bake

https://www.thatskinnychickcanbake.com/gooey-bars-katies-birthday-request-2/

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 24 bars
 
Ingredients
 
Bottom Layer: 
 
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Top Layer:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
16 ounce box of powdered sugar, sifted, reserve a few tablespoons for sprinkling over top

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line 9 x 13-inch pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Sift together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and kosher salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix till blended. Add the egg, melted butter, milk, and vanilla. Mix to combine completely.
  3. Press the dough evenly in the bottom of prepared pan
  4. To prepare the top layer, beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Mix until combined. Mix in powdered sugar and mix until smooth....you may have a few small lumps.
  5. Pour the batter on top of the bottom layer. Spread it out evenly.
  6. Bake 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved powdered sugar when cool.

 


If you want to eat your Gooey Butter Cake while watching a classic movie, other than The Big Lebowski, how about checking out Meet Me In St Louis?  The 1944 musical starring Judy Garland is a classic. Thanks for spending time with us.  Rob and Linda

While Rob and I are often mistaken for Hollywood stars, the photo above is of Judy Garland and Tom Drake in Meet Me in St Louis. Photo credit: 9 news.com
  

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