Gooey Butter Cake II

wow this is actualy paula deens recipe. she says it is her most popular dessert! she says: "1. for the holidays add a 15 ounce can of pumpkin to the filling; add cinnamon and nutmeg. 2. add a 20 ounce can of drained crished pinnaple to the filling 3. use a lemon cake mix add lemon zest and juice to the filling. 4. use a chocolate cake mix in the cream cheese filling add chocolate chips and nuts to the top. 5. use a spiced corrot cake mix, add chopped nut and shredded corrots to the filling. 6. use mandarin oranges, bananas, blueberries, or strawberries-just coordinate you extract flavorings. 7. use a chocolate cake mix. add 3/4 to a 1 cup of peanut butter and nuts to the filling." great recipe for to ALL!!!

I have made a similar recipe for years, but I combine the cake mix with 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter and one egg. To the softened cream cheese, I add 1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter, 2 eggs, and only 2 cups of confectioners sugar. I also top it with 1/2 cup of chopped pecans before baking 35-45 minutes. Everyone begs for this recipe!

I made this in 1999, when V. Monte originally had it posted on "AllRecipes.com presents Cakerecipe.com." (Does Cakerecipe.com still exist?) It goes by many names, and has many variations --chocolate, pumpkin, etc.(see Paula Deen's recipes on FoodNetwork). Don't overbake this! The word "cake" is deceiving, so when you bake this don't think something's wrong when it stays gooey--that's exactly how it's supposed to be. It is a soft, gooey, bar-like dessert that, while tasty, was much too sweet for my liking. It was okay, but after making this in '99, I didn't consider it a "keeper," and I never made it again.

I turned this cake into a Thanksgiving Day dessert by adding a can of pumpkin to the cream cheese mixture, along with a teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg and used vanilla in lieu of the almond extract. I suspect you could let your imatination run wild with this delicious base. Although there were several other desserts on the table, this one was "gobbled" (sorry, dumb joke) up by everyone! Thanks so much V.Monte!!!!

This was fantastic. I baked it for a little less than the recipe called for, maybe 5-10 minutes less. Next time I will make sure that I don't forget to hit the sides of the pan with the cooking spray, I wasn't paying attention and only sprayed the bottom, and the cake really stuck to the sides. Besides that, it was a wonderful dessert.

I have made this dessert several times recently for large groups of people, and everyone has loved it. I also think 4 cups of sugar is too much, so I used 3. Next time I will only use 2.5.

I made this for my inlaws over the weekend. I reserved some of the crust mix and spinkled it on top of the cream cheese mixture to add a little more visual appeal. Everyone loved it and said "it was a keeper".

A simple recipe with great results! It was easy and quick. I didn't have a yellow cake mix on hand, so I substituted a white cake mix. It turned out great!

Yum! Turned out more like a thick bar cookie than a cake, but it's delish! I baked mine about 5-7 minutes less than recipe said - it was browned by then. Thanks!

This cake is more commonly known as "ChessCake".

Wonderful treat with coffee! This turns out more like a desert bar than a cake and a perfect passing dish for a breakfast buffet/luncheon.I whipped this up in my kitchen aid mixer in litterally minutes. I made two changes because the cake mix is plenty sweet itself. I cut back on the powdered sugar and used only 2 1/2 cups and used 1 tsp vanilla extract instead of almond. Turned out beautiful!! I only baked for 40 minutes as it was ready, start checking at 30 minutes. Should come out of the oven still a bit soft on top. I would avoid baking this in a glass or pyrex pan, the bottom could easily burn.

This is an awesome recipe that is more like cookie bars than cake. I got this recipe from my grandma with the following changes, make it this way and it will be 'to die for'. Line your pan with foil. Make the crust as directed. Add another stick of butter and 2 cups of chopped pecans to the filling, skip the vanilla extract, use about 3 cups powdered sugar. Cook for 45 min to 1 hour, just until browned, and let cool, wrap in the foil and refrigerate overnight. Next day slice into bars and enjoy.

My girlfriend made this for a party and it was SOOO delicious, I made it the next night for my family. It is sinfully delicious!

Fantastic!! I am 9 months pregnant, and boy did this recipe hit the spot for my sweet craving. I also cut down the sugar (2 cups) as recommended by some others and added 1/4 c lemon juice to the cream cheese mixture. Gave a lovely tang to offset the sweetness. Couldn't quite wait for the cake to cool, have never had gooey butter cake before and was dying of curiosity, and was amazed at the scrumptios chewy crust- hope this remains the same even when cool. Baby and I thank you again!!

YUM! Serevd it with vanilla ice cream and fruit

oh wow this was so good i made chess cake last night this and chess cake is the same i didnt put 4 cups powered sugar this time cuz it was way to sweet i put 1 cup powred surar perfect

This is more of a bar cookie than a cake. I thought it was very good and definitely SWEET! Which is why I gave it a 4 instead of 5. I almost never cut a 9x13 pan into 24 small pieces, but I did this time, any bigger would be too much. I used egg substitute and fat free cream cheese, if I made it again I would probably try to cut the powdered sugar down a bit.

I loved this cake.Instead of using 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract I used 2 teaspoons it made it a lot sweeter and delicious.This cake has been in my family for generations.

Made this recipe for my youngest sons birthday. I read many reviews before making it. This recipe was beyond easy & quick. After reading many reviews before hand I decided to pretty much stick to the recipe with the exception of using vanilla extract instead of almond, simply because vanilla is what I had on hand. I braced myself for the warnings about it being too sweet....well, the cake turned out fantastic! My cooking time was pretty close to 45 min in a 9x13 pan. As far as sweetness, I think it boils down to personal preference, it was quite sweet but ice cream or milk helped to balance it out. However, I could easily imagine using less sugar & it still tasting scrumtious. Also mixing the bowl that contains the cream cheese for @ least 3 min as it states (it should thicken) is important to the layers cooking more separately & not all coming together during the cooking process. This is a very tasty dessert, my husband & kids loved it & so did I!! The bottom layer more like a bar, top is more of a moist cake texture. Now that I have followed the recipe almost by the book, I now feel more confident to be more creative with it next time:). Thanks V. Monte!

The best thing about this recipe is how easy and quick it is to make. It is good but very sweet, as others already warned. I used a 1-lb. box of powdered sugar which, according to the box, is 1/4 cup shy of the 4 cups the recipe calls for, but I don't think I would have wanted any more powdered sugar in it. I think I will try it again but with some of the flavor variations that other reviewers have suggested. Who knows, with some tweaking, I may come back with a 5-star rating. I sprayed the bottom and sides of the pan very liberally with PAM and there was absolutely no problem with it sticking. I baked it for only 40 minutes and even that was almost too long. Overall, I'm very pleased with this recipe and it's a keeper for me.

A friend and I made this dessert for the first time at Thanksgiving. We have one word for it... FABULOUS!! Next time I'll shave 5-10 minutes off the baking time. It got a little too brown on top.

My husband says to give it 5 stars...but I do find it too sweet even though I cut the sugar amount in half. I will definitely make this again and look forward to trying it with lemon flavoring.

The cake itself was good but way to sweet for our taste. I took other reviewers advice and cut the sugar down to 3 cups but that was still way too sweet. I still have half the cake left from 3 days ago, and with two growing boys, that is not a good sign. It was nice and gooey and if I make again, I will cut the sugar way down. Thanks for letting us try.

I actually had to throw this cake out. I used land o lakes butter and the crust was excellent, but the topping tasted like pure sugar crystals and was unedible.

Followed the recipe to the 'T', but for some reason it got overdone (baked for 45 minutes at 350). It still tastes DELICIOUS, but next time I'll try decreasing my baking time to 40 minutes.

So simple, but SO good! Made exactly as specified, except used vanilla instead of almond extract. Everyone loves this stuff!

Excellent! It brought back memories fo growing up in St. Louis and having Gooey Butter cake on weekend mornings. I served it at a gathering for some of my east coast friends who had never heard of it, and I think they are now hooked!

HUGE hit at a BBQ this weekend. I omitted the almond but it still turned out stellar. Next time I'll try it with Butter cake mix. I'd like to do a pumpkin version in the fall.

I wasn't to sure about this recipe, but I needed something for our church fellowship and I had all these ingrediants, soooo...IT is fantastic! Everyone raved about how good it was! There was none left to bring home, that is the best rating there is!

this is the best cake i've ever made supposedly. i use vanilla extract, pillsbury yellow cake mix, philly cream cheese, and exactly one box of powdered sugar and it turns out perfectly. make sure you push the dough up on the sides a bit to tell when it's done more easily.

Even though I cut the sugar, it was still WAY too sweet and the consistency was not pleasing to us at all.

Cook time on this is way too long. I checked it 10 minutes early, and it was already overdone. Ruined the cake. Will use another recipe next time.

this turned out really well. I too baked it for about 7 minutes less then the time suggested. It was perfect. I also put only 3 cups of sugar instead of 4. I think the 4th cup would have made it too sweet. My son said it was "too rich" The almond taste is so pronounced, I think this would be great with pears baked on top of it....next time.

Thanks for the recipe I used only 2 Cups of powdered sugar the tasted is great :)

YUM! This was very tasty, very rich and sweet, so you can't eat too much at a time. I didn't have almond extract so I just used vanilla instead and it turned out delicious. I would love to try it with different cake mixes, chocolate would probably be SO good.

i overcooked this a bit, so it wasn't all that gooey, but it was still ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. i forgot the extract, and only used 3 3/4 cups of sugar because i didn't want to open another box. still yummy.

Made this for the Four Year Old Butter Monster. And, ohhhh Man: This is awesome! But, don't take my word for it... Just make it! My slight mod's: BUTTER Yellow cake mix / Neufchatel Cream Cheese (gotta save calories 'n' fat somehow...) / and only 2 cups of the sugar. Keepin' this recipe for sure!

YUM YUM, although I added a touch more cream cheese as others had recommended, and would probably use the vanilla extract next time, instead of almond, but yum yum yum

Simple and delicious just as written Also was awesome for the holidays with a 15 ounce can of pumpkin cinnamon and nutmeg.

I just made this and i like it. Cons is i really dont taste the cream cheese and its kind of sweet. I'd give it a B+

Gooey Butter Cake was invented here in my home town of St. Louis, MO. With all the specialty bakeries you don't dare bring one to a party that isn't stellar. With that said, I would put this recipe up against any of the bakeries. You do need to keep a close eye on the crust, in my oven about 30 to 35 min was plenty. In fact maybe just a touch too much as the crust got a little darker, not burnt, just darker than I would have liked. I am going to try one with browned butter, pumpkin, lemon and candied ginger. I guess what I'm trying to say is I like this recipe.

I made a pumpkin version of this for the holidays - to the filling I added 1 15 oz can pumpkin, another 1/2 c butter, 1 tsp cinnamon & nutmeg. It was outstanding! Like so many have said, it is a very rich recipe - had the consistency of pumpkin fudge, really - but it is a crowd pleaser, indeed!

Very sweet but good.

I just made this and oooohhhh how very good! It reminds me of the one Paula Dean makes. This is pretty simple and so classic! Love it!

I should have listened to the reviews that said 2-3 cups powdered sugar were plenty! I used 4 cups - and while it was good and people ate it, it was just too sweet....and I never say that! I would make again, but next time, I'll probably only use 2 cups!

I got rave reviews on this recipe when I added ~2 c of fresh blueberries. I just folded them into the cream cheese-almond extract-powdered sugar-egg mix after they were beaten.

Very simple, but a very good cake.

Pure sugar and not gooey at all.

I love this stuff!!

Sorry, Gooey Butter Cake was not invented by Paula Deen. Reviewer Yummy has the correct information. This was invented in St. Louis in the late 1930's or early 1940's, depending on which story you go with. It's a staple in most local St. Louis bakeries, as well as the in-store bakeries of the local grocery chains. It IS a coffee cake, not a dessert cake, and in the store-bought versions the bottom is a little on the dry or chewy side, often more like a stollen base. The top is definitely for those with a sweet tooth. Thanks for posting this, V. Monte!

This is not "Paula Deen's Recipe!" Yes, she makes them, but these have been around for years. My sister first made these 25 years ago & they were called St. Louis Ooey-Gooey Cake. My family just calls them Gooey Bars. I love Paula, but she can't claim the recipe. :)

OH it's soooo good... think i will try adding some coconut next time!

I just discovered gooey cake at a church luncheon about 6 months ago. It was a great dessert and I meant to look it up, but kept forgetting. I found this recipe last week randomly and was very surprised at how easy it was and how few ingredients it required. I have made it a few times...once using a plain yellow cake mix (very good) and every other time using a golden butter cake mix (this is preferred by my family). My family and I found this to be a heavenly dessert and just like we remembered from church. I will be making this for family functions and cookouts from now on!

Gooey Butter Cake originated in St. Louis in the 1930's when a baker made a mistake in making a coffee cake. Everyone loved it and it took off from there. Yummmmy!

An easy and people pleasing receipe. The almond extract really makes the difference. It is impossible to only eat one piece!

This is addictive. i live alone and I hardly go three or four days without one in the house. My grandchildren and my daughter love it. My co-workers and my church members and neighbors love it. Its easy to make, its fun to make. I tried it with yellow mix first. Then devil's food, then triple fudge. Then I tried a store brand devil's food mix that seems to be more moist and easier to press in the pan. O yea, I swap out and combine vanilla/almond flavorings. Grease the bottom of the pan with a softened stick of butter and then put about a half-a-cup of grated coconut in the topping. Again, addictive and in demand.

This is a wonderful recipe as is, but I made several altercations and it turned out even more fabulous than this original version. Perhaps cinnamon would be a nice addition?

okay this came out looking horrible but tasted great with strawberries and topping on top my dad even said this is good this more like a cross between a cheese cake and a cake

Awesome cake! Have had issues in the past with the edges overcooking, but then I decided to use the convection button on my oven...PERFECT!!!!!

I prefer less sugar in the cream cheese layer.

This cake is fantastic! It's the perfect thing for someone with a sweet tooth like mine! I bake it often and it's always gobbled up...

This is a delicious pastry like cake. I actually served it for breakfast!

Super sweet and always a hit for my family when I make it.

I have been making this recipe for years. My 20 year old son doesn't like any cakes except for this one. He has asked for this cake for every one of his birthdays since he was 17 years old. Every time I have a party or am invited to a party, I have to make this cake--love it!!!

I love this recipe! Not only is it easy it's so tastey too! I added blueberries on the top and ti was AWESOME! I will definately make this again:)

This is a huge hit with everyone! It's also easy to make. Top it with vanilla ice cream to balance out the richness. I've heard of adding a banana to the secondary mixture but I haven't tried it yet.

Awesome. Took this to Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. It was great. Will make again.

First time making this. I did change a couple things. I added 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the filling cuz I am a chocoholic, I only had 1 egg for the filling so I added about 1/4 cup of whole milk to add a bit of moisture since I omitted an egg and added the cocoa powder. It IS very sweet so I will decrease the powdered sugar next time by a cup but OMG it is delicious!

Super great! Decreased sugar to 2 cups....perfect. Cooked for 37 mins. and would recommend 5 mins. less. The bottom layer was a little brown for my taste.

Delicious and SO easy. I used 1 tsp. vanilla instead of almond extract, and it turned out perfect. I'll be making again and again. Thanks!

Good stuff---If you've got a sweet tooth like mine--this will hit the spot!

This is the most common Gooey Butter Cake recipe. In St. Louis and the St. Louis area this is a favorite! The name of cake may be misleading; it is not a dessert cake but more of a coffee cake and can be served for all meals and is even good with ice cream.

OMG!!! So good, very sweet but everyone loves it. I have to make myself stop eating this.

Great with all the variations.

Great recipe! We just loved this treat! It was more like bars than cake - I could make it every week. The changes I made were I used Butter Recipe Yellow cake mix & 1 tsp almond extract, also I think softening the margarine would be enough.

This was not as gooey or buttery as the title suggests. It has a cheesecake topping and the "cake" part was actually crust like. It tasted alright, but just wasn't what I thought the title suggested.

Just great! I used a strawberry cake mix instead of the yellow. I like the almond extract- in the past I've used similiar recipes with vanilla, but I will go with almond from now on!

very good!!! I only used about 2 cups of powdered sugar and that was plenty sweet enough.

I love this cake, I only change 3 things 1)French vanilla cake mix and 2)Instead of almond I used vanilla extract and used regular sugar. The cake lasted a day.

^^

This is a great, easy cake that's super sweet and creamy. As another reviewer mentioned, this is actually a Paula Dean recipe. I add about one teaspoon of vanilla to my bottom crust and follow the rest of the recipe exactly, baking for approx. 45 minutes. The cake tastes buttery and rich; a small piece is enough, so it goes a long way. Very easy to make.

Delish! A hit at the church picnic.

I have made this cake twice now and it's a big hit. I used vanilla extract instead of almond and added crushed pecans to the top. Delicious!

Was very disappointed with this cake for all of the time,calories, etc, It did not do it for us. My husband who really loves his cake, had one piece and told me to dump the rest. Will not try this cake again.

WOW. That's all I can say. This was a sinful, delightful dessert!

This is quite good, though very, very sweet. You really can't eat more than a small piece each time, but wow is that piece good while you're eating it. The only reason I'm giving this four stars instead of five is that as good as this is, my family and I were just unable to finish off the pan (even though we've been working at it for awhile) because they're just that sweet and rich. If I could give it four and a half I would, since that fact doesn't really deserve a full star off. I'm tempted to try a bit less sugar next time because of this, though I don't think I would cut it in half as some have. Mine was baked to perfection at 35 minutes. This is also more like a bar cookie than a cake, despite the name. I do think this would also be quite good with other cake mixes and even other extracts to change the flavor slightly, and would definitely make this again. Just keep in mind that this is an extremely sweet, rich dessert!

I don't normally bake so I made this for my boyfriend's birthday and it was amazing! Since he's on a bit of a diet I thought I would half all the ingredients for the cream cheese topping. (I only ended up using two eggs for the entire cake). It turned out great this way, I think it would have been too sweet with all of the second layer. Also topped it with freshly cut up strawberries! I will definitely keep this recipe handy.

Everyone loves this dessert! I cut into small squares and placed in paper cup cake lines. It made for a nice presentation and easy to eat on the go at parties. I followed the advice of other reviewers and cut back on the sugar a little!

Was told it was like “crack” – I am assuming that was a COMPLIMENT!?! I did what others suggested: DOUBLED the recipe and added some milk to cake mix part to make more moist, also used a Chocolate Mix. Added a little more Almond extract, and LESS Powdered sugar, and put crushed pecans on top. Used a smaller, deeper glass dish and then I got the rave reviews “can’t get enough” when I sent it to the fire station with my husband! They said out of all of the desserts I send, this one tops them ALL !

this cake is too sweet. i will try making this cake again, with half the sugar. i might have overbaked it a little- the top became a hard crust, but it tasted good and added extra texture to the cake. the cake is rather plain beyond the sweetness, though. I poked holes and drizzled strong coffee over it, then chilled the cake. It tasted good, not as sweet and had more flavour.

Tastes pretty good (very sweet). I baked it for 45 min. Turned out pretty well but there is a hard crust on the top. Might make again.

This was way too sweet for me. If I were to make it again I'd cut out some of the confectioners sugar. Also, I only had an 8x11 pan and it was too thick and didn't set up well. Definitely use a 9x13.

I am a dessert snob. Just want to give you a point of reference. I made this today, following the crust directions exactly. When I got to the part about 4 cups of confectioner's sugar, "oh no" I had one cup. I used one cup with the package of cream cheese and then added just one egg to the topping instead of two. Baked it for 30 minutes in a 325 convection oven. "heaven".

It was ok,too sweet though.

I made this and followed some reviews while doing so. I cut the powdered sugar in half and added some pecans on top. I liked it, it has a better flavor the second day but my family didn't care for it. My son actually said it was too sweet.

My family loves this recipe! We enjoy it most after it's been cut into bars and refrigerated--a tasty, chilled treat.

This was very good, and I brought it in for the guys at work, and they all loved it, although they did say it was very very rich and very sweet. I followed the recipe exactly, except I did cut the sugar to 3 cups, and think next time I will cut it back to 2 cups. It was very gooey!

Very tasty, I would prefer less nutmeg but my dad loves it like that

Num!!