Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

You don't need to be from St. Louis to love ooey gooey butter cake—just a lover of all things sweet! The cake bakes a bit flatter than standard slices and is topped with a buttery cream cheese layer—not quite a cake, a bar, or a cheesecake, but still totally delicious. Many recipes like this one start with a box of yellow cake mix. Here, a little pumpkin pie spice adds some festive, warm-spiced flavor and makes the cake a worthy entry for your spread of Thanksgiving desserts.  

Why is it called gooey butter cake?

In the 1930s, a worker at a St. Louis bakery mixed up the ratio of butter to flour in the bakery's cake recipe. Since these Depression-era ingredients were expensive, the head baker decided to bake them anyway. The result was a "flat, gooey mess," but locals loved it. Now that's one delicious mistake! Later, a version using cake mix and cream cheese added the "ooey" to gooey butter cake.

How gooey is too gooey for butter cake?

When it comes to ooey gooey butter cake, there's a sweet spot between too firm (like a cheesecake) and too soft (a bit of a soupy mess). Be sure to bake the cake until the top layer is still a little jiggly in the center, then let it get completely cool on your counter before slicing. The cake will also firm up if chilled for a couple days in the fridge, so for maximum gooeyness, serve it the day it's baked.