Gooey Butter Cake
Gooey Butter Cake: This is the real deal! Soft, tender yeast cake layered with the most incredible buttery sweet topping!
Servings: 9
Calories: 529kcal
Ingredients
For the cake layer
- 3 tablespoons milk room temperature (any kind)
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1/4 ounce active dry yeast (1 packet or about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the gooey butter layer
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 egg large
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
To make the cake layer
- Mist a square baking pan with non-stick spray, and line it with parchment.
- Place the milk and water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.
- Allow the yeast to dissolve and become foamy (approx. 5 to 10 minutes).
- Add the flour, butter, sugar, egg, and salt and beat on medium-high speed until very pale and airy (approx. 5 to 7 minutes).
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, spreading it into an even layer.
- Cover lightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (approx. 90 minutes to 2 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Partially bake just the cake layer until mostly set (approx. 20 minutes), then dollop on scoops of the gooey butter topping* and bake until the edges are starting to set but the center is still quite wobbly and wet.
- Cool completely in the pan before slicing into bars.
To make the gooey butter topping
- Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream together until very pale and fluffy (approx. 5 to 7 minutes).
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then whip in the egg.
- Stir in the honey, water, and vanilla.
- Mix in the flour until just barely combined.
Notes
Recipe adapted from the New York Times.
*It's fine to scoop the topping onto the partially baked cake while it's hot.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.11cake | Calories: 529kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 409mg | Potassium: 82mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 767IU | Vitamin C: 0.04mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 2mg