Original Gooey-Gooey Cake
SERVES 20–24
It’s funny how a craze can begin. A few years ago, the baking world was consumed by a gooey butter cake trend. Little did most people know that this cake was invented decades ago—in St. Louis, not the South. In fact, my mom first received this recipe from my Aunt Beverly, a St. Louis resident, over 20 years ago. She would make it whenever we visited her and her family: my Uncle Richard and my cousins LaKeisha and Raquel.
I can definitely see why the craze caught fire. The cake itself is quite a feat! It is about as easy a baking recipe as there is, but the taste is out-of-this-world good! The bottom layer starts with yellow cake mix, but bakes into a buttery blondie texture that serves as the ideal vehicle for the cream cheese custard topping. I guess you could say that Aunt Beverly was a pioneer in the gooey-cake movement. At least, I like to think so.
INGREDIENTS BOTTOM CAKE LAYER 1
(15.25-ounce) box classic yellow cake mix or 1 recipe From-Scratch Yellow Cake Mix (recipe follows)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, room temperature
GOOEY TOP LAYER
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
FOR THE BOTTOM CAKE LAYER
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Liberally prepare a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with the nonstick method of your choice. (I recommend the parchment method described on p. 17.)
In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until combined and thick. Evenly pat the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.
FOR THE GOOEY TOP LAYER
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the sugar, cream cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt over low speed. Once the sugar is fully incorporated, turn your mixer speed to high.