This is mostly for Amy S., but a few others were interested so I asked mom to send the recipes. I'll just leave her to explain:
I am sending 3 gooey butter cake recipes. The first one was in this week's St. Louis paper, from their files. This is not the one I make.
ST LOUIS GOOEY BUTTER CAKE
For crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
3 T granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
For filling:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 t vanilla
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare crust (Combine four and sugar, cut in butter until fine crumbs
begin to stick together, Pat into bottom and sides of a greased 9 x 9 x
2 inch pan).
Prepare filling (Beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Mix in egg.
Alternate flour and milk, mixing after each add. Add corn syrup and
vanilla. Mix until well blended).
Pour filling into crust.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Bake 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake--it should be gooey.
The gooey butter cake I make comes from a cake mix. Here are cake mix
recipes.
One is from Bertha, your dad's secretary. [Yes, my dad's secretary was
named Bertha. And no, she did not serve in the Wehrmacht]. The other
from a lady in Bonne Terre [A small former mining town in Missouri]:
(Bertha's)
1 stick butter
1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 8 oz. box cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar, and nuts if desired.
Melt butter in 9 x 13 inch pan. Add cake mix and 2 eggs. Mix with fork.
Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and other 2 eggs. Spread over cake
mix mixture. Can sprinkle on nuts if desired. Bake 35-40 min. at 350
degrees. Do not overbake. Must be gooey.
The BT Library entry is similar, but 1 less egg:
Mix 1 box yellow cake mix, 1 egg, 1 stick melted butter, and 1 t
vanilla. Press in bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan.
Mix 1 8 oz box cream cheese, softened, 2 eggs, 1 t vanilla, and 3 cups
powdered sugar. Pour over mixture in pan. Bake at 350 degrees 35 min.
Can sprinkle with additional powdered sugar when cool. In both cases,
sift the powdered sugar before mixing, so it will not be lumpy when
mixing.
[Now for the Secret Toffee recipe]
The "Soda Cracker Bars" came from a 1982 St. Louis Post Dispatch recipe page, sent in by Caroluyn Koenig, from Ladue. A quickie.
Ingredients:
Saltine crackers
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks butter)
1 12-0z package semi sweet chocolate chips
Line a jellyroll pan or cookie sheet with sides with foil.
Cover whole pan with 1 layer of saltine crackers. Lay them side by
side, touching. Fill in ends or sides with partial crackers when
necessary.
THEN melt butter in saucepan. Add brown sugar and mix until melted together. Bring to a boil & cook for about 3 minutes.
Pour this gently over the crackers.
Place in preheated 400 degree oven & bake for 5 minutes. This will be bubbly and gooey.
While hot, sprinkle chocolate chips over the cookies. (Can put back in
oven for 30 seconds or so to get the chips to melt if needed).
As the chocolate melts, spread evenly over the cookies.
Sprinkle with pecan pieces.
Cool in a cool place.
When serving, break the cookies into random shapes, so they do not
resemble cracker squares. (If you don't tell people these are soda
crackers, most will not know your secret).
