04 April 2009

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake


For my husband's birthday last week, he requested a St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake.  He had seen this recipe in the Oct/Nov 2008 edition of Cook's Country and has been drooling over it for months!  It turned out really well (what from Cook's Country doesn't really?).  The bottom layer is a yeasted cake that is not too sweet and really retains a yeasty flavor.  It is topped with a gooey, pudding layer and then finished with powdered sugar.  It only made an 8 x 8 inch pan so we weren't overwhelmed with cake for days and days.  If super sweet cakes are your cup of tea, this cake is not for you, but if you like quirky, regional specialty cakes, this one will be a hit!  I'm sending this over to Susan over at Wild Yeast for her weekly YeastSpotting event.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake adapted from Cook's Country Oct/Nov 2008 edition

Ingredients:

Dough:

1/4 c. whole milk, warmed to about body temperature
1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. high gluten, unbleached flour (or all purpose flour)
6 Tbls. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened

Gooey Layer:

1/2 c. sugar
4 Tbls. unsalted butter, softened
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbls. light corn syrup
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. high gluten, unbleached flour (or all purpose flour)
3 Tbls. instant vanilla pudding mix
Confectioners sugar

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.  When oven reaches 200 degrees F, shut the oven off.  Line an 8 x 8 inch pan with a few wide strips of foil that hang over the edge to help in removing the cake from the pan when it is done.  Grease the foil, the pan, and a medium bowl.
2.  For the dough:  Combine the milk and yeast and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the yeast dissolves.  Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour and mix until combined.  Increase the speed and add the butter, one Tbls. at a time.  Continue mixing for 5 minutes to help develop the gluten.  Transfer the batter to the greased bowl, cover with Saran wrap, and put in the warmed oven to rise for about 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, spread the batter into the prepared pan.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
3.  For the gooey layer:  In a bowl, beat the sugar, butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Reduce the speed and add the corn syrup, egg, and vanilla.  Add the flour and pudding mix and mix until combined.  Dollop mixture evenly over the batter and spread gently into an even layer over the cake batter.
4.  Place the cake into the oven and bake until the outside is golden and the topping is still jiggly and just starting to color slightly, about 25 minutes.  Cool in the pan for at least 3 hours, remove the cake from the pan using the foil strips.  Place the cake on a plate, remove the foil strips, and dust the cake with confectioners sugar.  Serve and refrigerate any leftovers.

31 comments:

Chef E said...

When I lived in St Louis, people would say "Oh, I bet you make good St Louis Gooey Butter Cake as a chef", lol, I had no clue what they were talking about for the longest...now that I see it in person I say "oh that is what they were talking about", lol, I think one assumes a chef can cook anything :) You sure can!

Wandering Coyote said...

With a title like that, I'd be drooling, too. Wow. This looks incredible. I'll be boomkarking it for sure!

Jenn said...

Looks Delish! Never been to St. Louis, but this recipe will do in place of the travel. =)

Susan/Wild Yeast said...

Very interesting yeasted cake! I'm bookmarking this one.

Elyse said...

Mmm, this dish sounds totally fabulous. Sounds like you and the hubby really enjoyed it. Yum!

Cathy said...

I ate this every night when I was in St. Louis for work!! Great job - it looks perfect. Maybe that will be Easter dessert.

Tangled Noodle said...

I'm not sure I've had a yeasted cake before (unless you count a doughnut) but this looks like a real treat!

Rhyleysgranny said...

A wonderful looking southern creation. I love your new look blog
xxx

Sarah said...

Looks fantastic!!! What a yummy cake.Great for my husband who is not a sweets fan!

Daily Spud said...

The name of the cake is enough to sell me on this one!

NuKiwi said...

Looks good...sounds bad (fattening). ;o)

Joanna said...

i just have to say how cute your layout is!!!!

after seeing that picture, i really, really want cake now... like really. haha nobody in my family likes homemade cakes for some reason (except myself). they consider bakery cakes the best and whenever i make a cake for somebody's birthday, they always buy a bakery cake incase mine is inedible haha how rude!!

Reeni said...

This looks scrumptious! It is just the perfect size, too!

Anonymous said...

I am loving the look of your blog!

My hubby is from St. Louis and coincidentally we are making Donna's take on White Castles tomorrow. I think this would be the best dessert!

This looks incredible!

;) amy

Jude said...

Didn't expect that there would be yeast involved in this cake. Sounds okay with me if this cake isn't overly sweet.

Anonymous said...

This cake looks excellent! It would be a perfect dessert for my husband who actually likes desserts if they are not overly sweet.

Joanna said...

hello, hello again. as sad as it may be, Jacob Black will be played by a different actor for New Moon. i saw an interview on t.v. with taylor laughtner (i think that's his name) and he said that he was too baby-faced to play the part of the strong, massively tall Jacob Black. i'm pretty bummed about it because i like taylor in this movie. the director is also different now, too, because the twilight director hadn't planned on putting edward in the movie a lot in order to stay true to the book.

jasper barely had a role in the movie. i was pretty sad (especially because he's gorgeous haha). he's definitely a stronger character once the series progresses. he doesn't put up with any b.s.

do you have the soundtrack or the music for the movie? if you don't, you have to order it. if i had a cd burner, i'd send you a copy. i'd recommend "twilight: the score" cd because the music is just so powerful. i listen to it all the time in the car or at school and i feel like i'm in the movie!! it's so cool haha

Heather said...

ohhh. your husband is a good recipe picker! happy birthday to him!

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

The cake sounds delicious - I wonder why it's named after St. Louis? Love your new masthead!

Donna-FFW said...

This looks decadent!! Totally delicious. I would love some.

Miranda said...

Thank you for following my site and all the wonderful comments. Your site is wonderful.

Netts Nook said...

Joie You cake looks mouth watering. I love your new background looks so cherry. Yummy.

Angie's Recipes said...

Looks delicious.....gooey stuff is good. I have never seen corn syrup here.....Can the corn syrup be replaced with the inverted sugar syrup or any other kinds of syrup?
P.S. Like blog's new layout.

Jaime and Jen DISH said...

I want this NOW!! Looks so good!

Bob said...

Ooooo, yeast cakes are the bomb. I'll have to try this out.

Sam said...

You had me at gooey, I love the look of this cake!

I really like the new look, did you do it yourself?

Heather S-G said...

This sounds fabulous...gooey & butter all in one title...yum!

Unknown said...

I love cakes that aren't overly sweet. This one looks wonderful. Happy belated birthday to your main squeeze! Your site looks fantastic by the way. Really, really nice.

Emily
justeatfood.com

momgateway said...

Nice new header and the recipe looks yummy. Thanks!

Justine said...

wow that sound so good! and i love the new look you have going one : )

Justine

Anonymous said...

We've seen Paula Deen make something like this, and it sounded so good. Gooey and butter in the title of a cake mean it's good.

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