USA: Missouri - Gooey Butter Cake

 

This cake has been popular in the St Louis area of Missouri since the 1930s. I like that it's a simple recipe using mainly ingredients you have in your cupboard/fridge so it's a convenient cake to make.

Ingredients:

Base:

1 cup flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup of butter

Top:

1 1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

1/4 cup corn syrup (or golden syrup in the UK)

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 can evaporated milk

Mix the sugar and flour for the base in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. press this mixture into the bottom the tray you are using and set aside.

Now to make the top part. Put the sugar and butter in a bowl (same one is fine) and using an electric beater blend until well combined.

Add the egg and corn syrup, then beat more until they are just mixed in.

Next alternately add the flour and evaporated milk a bit at a time beating as you go. You'll end up with a thick creamy batter. Pour this on top of the base in the tin. Tap to flatten out and then bake for 35 minutes at 175 C. Take out of the oven when it is almost set and only has a slight wobble.

Remove from the tin and cut into squares. 

I wasn't sure about this one. It had a very buttery sugary taste and felt just a bit too sickly to me. Val and JD enjoyed several slices though. It was a firmer texture inside than I expected but was still gooey too. It had an almost caramelised layer on top that tasted good and the base worked well. There's only one piece left so it was fairly popular in our house, just not with me!