The Best Gooey Butter Cake Recipe (From Scratch) (2024)

FAQs

What makes a cake more moist buttermilk or sour cream? ›

Can't milk or buttermilk do the same? Here's one thing to consider: thickness. Sour cream adds moisture without thinning your batter the same way that a liquid would. That fact that sour cream delivers moisture without further thinning out a batter results in a cake with a very tender, very fine crumb.

The cake was supposedly first made by accident in the 1930s by a St. Louis-area German American baker who was trying to make regular cake batter but reversed the proportions of butter and flour. John Hoffman was the owner of the bakery where the mistake was made.

Why does oil give cake superior texture? Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.

To store: Store gooey butter cake covered, at room temperature, for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To freeze: Allow the cake to cool to room temperature and then decide on a freezing method. I like to cut gooey butter cake into smaller bars and place them in a gallon freezer ziplock bag.

"It adds a subtle tang to the flavor or baked goods. The fat contributes to moistness and richness that makes tender cakes," says Samantha Seneviratne, author of The Joys of Baking: Recipes and Stories for a Sweet Life. What's the Difference Between Créme Fraîche and Sour Cream?

Generally speaking the more fat in the milk you're using, the more moist and fine you'll find the texture of whatever you're baking. It's really a trade-off between cooking up a healthier option or one with a superior texture.

Made of little else but flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and corn syrup, it's immediately satisfying and luxurious to eat. The result is chewy, rich, and creamy, almost like a vanilla pudding that's been nestled into a blondie. In St. Louis gooey butter cake is everywhere.

A Kentucky Butter cake is the simplest cake you can find. The ingredients are truly pantry staples: eggs, butter, flour, sugar, baking soda, and buttermilk.

Nothing compares to gooey butter cake. Rich, moist and tender, it's arguably the best dessert in St. Louis.

Best Oils for Baking

Choosing vegetable oil is the best option for baking moist, delicious baked goods. Canola oil, the most common vegetable oil used in baking, doesn't add a strong flavor. It allows your cake's flavor will shine through while still achieving a moist texture.

Can I use sour cream instead of oil in cake mix? ›

Mayonnaise, the least likely of the bunch, actually gives the closest result to having used oil, and it retains the flavors of your cake or whatever baked good you are creating very well! Yogurt and sour cream also work in a pinch, but do change the flavor profile a tad.

Yes, you can substitute sour cream! Thin it with milk or water to get the right consistency. For each cup of buttermilk needed, use 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup liquid. Editor's Tip: Sour cream has a higher fat content, so this will result in richer-tasting foods.

A cake that's wet in the middle, in most cases, has not baked long enough. Put it back in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

In late 1942 or early 1943, Johnny Hoffman of St. Louis Pastries Bakery was working on a Saturday and made what eventually turned out to be Gooey Butter Cake. You're right, it was a mistake!

Are butter cake and pound cake the same? While both cakes are known for being deliciously buttery and rich with a fine, moist crumb, there is a difference between the two. Butter cakes (also referred to as creamed cakes) have a lighter texture and greater volume than pound cakes.

The buttermilk cake did have the advantage for flavor though. It provided a mild complexity that was not too tangy. The sour cream cake had a very fine, tender crumb. The sour cream contains acidity as well as sizable amounts of fat.

Baking with Sour Cream: The creamy texture of sour cream makes baked goods more moist than if you used milk. This makes sour cream an excellent choice for recipes that are known to have drier results, like sponge cakes.

Buttermilk is made up of a variety of acids – the results of the fermentation process, which give baked goods a couple of benefits. First, the acidity provides tangy flavor to balance all kinds of sweet baked treats. Second, it activates baking soda, producing the gas that makes dough or batter rise.

Buttermilk makes unbelievably tender pancakes, the flakiest biscuits, superior bread, and extraordinarily moist cakes. It can do all of this because of the presence of lactic acid.