Gooey butter cake. TNS

Saleha Irfan, Senior Sub-Editor/Reporter

Gooey butter cake came into existence when Johnny Hoffman of St Louis Pastries Bakery accidentally confused the amounts of flour and butter while baking. It quickly became a St Louis staple.

There are two distinct layers in a gooey butter cake. The bottom layer is cake while the top is a mix of cream cheese and butter. You can either make the bottom cake layer from scratch or use a boxed yellow or vanilla cake mix. The bottom layer is a bit firm, while the top layer has a melt-in-your-mouth smooth perfection.

This cake is best served as a bar so bake it in a rectangular pan and coat it liberally with icing sugar when done.

Ingredients

For the cake layer

1 packet yellow or vanilla cake mix

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

113g unsalted butter, melted

For the top layer

8 ounces cream cheese

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

113g unsalted butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease 9-inch by 13-inch rectangular baking pan. You can also use parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Press this mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, making it as flat as possible.

3. In another large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, melted butter, eggs, vanilla and salt. Add icing sugar, one cup at a time, and beat until smooth. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust.

4. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the edges get brown and puffed. The centre should still be jiggly and not properly set. Make sure that you don’t overcook.

5. Let it cool on the baking rack and sprinkle with more icing sugar before serving.