Has anyone made one of these? I tried once, and it was terrible. It was like eating a cup of honey and sugar. It actually made my teeth hurt! Even hubby couldn't eat it and he has a humongous sweet tooth!

I made a butter cake when I was in 4-H (many years ago) and won 2nd Reserve Champion on it

I will see if I can find the recipe

This is a St. Louis tradition/culture. The only place you can buy this cake is in St. Louis! Althought I have heard that Duncan Hines will soon have a box mix of this cake.

This cake was made by accident in a St. Louis bakery in the 1930's.
Here is the "fast" recipe. I can get you the "made from scratch" recipe if you wish...but I like to do it the easy way! Let me know how it turns out!
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Gooey Butter Cake

Prep time 5 minutes.

Cake
1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.
Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.
Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.

Pumpkin Gooey:
This variation has to be at the top of my list, especially around Thanksgiving. For the cake part, I sometimes use a spice cake mix. I have even used a chocolate cake mix, but I think my favorite is the basic yellow cake mix. Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Cut into squares and top each square with a pecan half. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I promise you'll never want pumpkin pie again!

Pineapple Gooey: Add a 20-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Lemon Gooey: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (approximately 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Proceed: as directed above.

Carrot Cake Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to cream cheese filling. You can sprinkle the top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts if you like. Proceed as directed above.

Chocolate Chip Gooey: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above.

Banana Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix. Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg. Proceed as directed above.

Nutty Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts to the cake mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, Heath Almond Toffee Bits or Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits into filling. Proceed as directed above.

I have no problem eating Gooey Butter Cake. The recipe shows up in the St. Louis paper at least once a year because everyone loves it!

Sounds good...love all the variations!

I made Paula Deens version.....i wasnt impressed.....and i LOVE Paula Deen!

thanks for the recipe, yummy and love all of variations of the recipe

Too sweet for me too....and I made the pumpkin, my favorite flavor!

Thanks for the recipes.

[quote=sandilee]Here is the "fast" recipe. I can get you the "made from scratch" recipe if you wish...but I like to do it the easy way! **

I would like the scratch version. I really prefer baking from scratch.

Paula Deen makes a good one and it has all kinds of different things you can add to make it different. Jan

Aurora, here is "made from scratch" recipe. Let me know how it turns out!
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St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

This cake is ridiculous. I’m already looking for an excuse to make it again. I’m thinking “It’s Tuesday!” may have to suffice.

About the baking vessel: The recipe says to use a 9×13 baking dish (often glass or ceramic). I used a 9×13 cake pan (which was metal) and ended up with something that browned a bit more than I would have liked. I’d use a “dish” next time, which I believe will brown the bottom less aggressively.

About the baking time: My cake, in a thinner, metal baking pan, was also finished 15 minutes sooner than estimated, and was already a little past the “goo” stage. I chalk this up to the pan. However, I put baking times in a wide range; if you’re using a metal baking pan (though, again, I’d recommend a glass or ceramic dish), err on the cautious side. Eh, err on the cautious side either way. Always. Better safe than sorry.

Yields 16 to 20 servings, but I cut mine into 24 and may or may not know 10 people who polished off every one of them after dinner

For the cake
3 tablespoons milk at room temperature
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the topping
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling.

Make the cake dough: In a small bowl, mix milk with 2 tablespoons warm water. Add yeast and whisk gently until it dissolves. Mixture should foam slightly. (Very slightly in my case.)

Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and the milk mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition. Clark doesn’t say to do this, but I switched to a dough hook at this point to beat dough on medium speed until it formed a smooth mass and pulled away (just a little, my dough was still very soft) from sides of bowl, 7 to 10 minutes.

Press, stretch and nudge dough into an ungreased (original recipe suggests this; I found that my topping stuck a lot and I really had to cut around it with a sharp knife; I will grease mine next time) 9-by 13-inch baking dish (see Note above about baking dishes) at least 2 inches deep. Cover dish with plastic wrap or clean tea towel, put in a warm place, and allow to rise until doubled, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Make the gooey topping: Heat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare topping, in a small bowl, whisk corn syrup with 2 tablespoons water and the vanilla. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and corn syrup mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

Spoon topping in large dollops over risen cake and use an offset spatula to gently spread it in an even layer. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes (see Note above about wide range); cake will rise and fall in waves and have a golden brown top, but will still be liquid in center when done. Allow to cool in pan before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar for serving.

Sound delicious. I will have to try this. Thanks for the recipe sandilee.

Sandilee - this sounds like the basic goey butter cake recipe I use and it is delicious - but very rich.

I have made it before and it is rich...but oh so good. I do cut it into about 1" squares. Guess I have a "sweet tooth".

Thanks Sandilee,

I will give it a try and let you know.

sounds like chess pie cake

I made her Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake. It was delicious but ugly! LOL!

Yummy

Oh, I love these... pumpkin and plain are my favorites!!!