Apple Gooey Butter Cake
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
I grew up in St. Louis, and we are proud to be the home of the legendary Gooey Butter Cake! The legend goes like this: The first cake was made sometime in the 1930s, the result of an accident by a careless baker named John Hoffman who worked at St. Louis Pastries Bakery in the south side of the city. He mistakenly reversed the proportions of butter and flour in his cake batter, with way more butter than flour in the recipe, the cake was a buttery blob that spread out all over the pan! He refused to throw it away and named it Gooey Butter Cake, what a delicious accident! There are many variations to this "accident", here, I have given you the basic recipe and added a layer of apple compote for the fall season, the apples go between the crust and the topping. It's important not to overbake the cake, or you won't have the "gooey" part that we love so much! I know you'll love this as much as we do!
Author: Ruth Guerri
Recipe type: Cake
Serves: 16 - 18
Ingredients
Apples
- 2 Tbs of butter
- 2 Tbs of brown sugar
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1-½ cups of apples, peeled and diced
Crust
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 stick of butter, room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 (8 oz) pkg of cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 1 (1lb) box of powdered sugar plus more for sprinkling on finished cake
- 1 tsp of vanilla
Instructions
- To make the apples, add the butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir until melted, now add in the brown sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved then add the cinnamon and apples. Stir and cook the mixture simmer for 15 minutes or until the apples are soft. Remove from the heat.
- For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then add the cake mix, butter, eggs, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and beat until combined, place into a 9 X 13 cake pan and spread to the edges.
- Spoon the apple mixture over the crust.
- For the topping, add the cream cheese, 2 eggs, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Pour this mixture over the crust and apples making sure to spread it to the edges.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the cake is lightly browned and set around the edges, the center will appear jiggly, let cool, then sprinkle on powdered sugar. Enjoy!
