Gooey Butter Cake says it all.

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. So I pulled out an old St. Louis cookbook and searched for one of his all-time favorites – a beloved St. Louis recipe for Gooey Butter Coffee Cake. I found it in Cooking in Clover (1977), a cookbook created as a fundraiser for Jewish Hospital Auxiliary for Jewish Hospital of St. Louis. My copy is threadbare from use. Honestly I had a hard time finding it as its bright green cover is long gone. I remember making this decadent coffee cake a couple of times probably 40 years ago – not sure it was from this particular volume but knew the birthday boy would appreciate the effort! And it didn’t disappoint!

This is easy as it gets. Few ingredients, cake mix as the base – and a lot of powdered sugar – and you will have a scrumptious cake like none other. While its called a “coffee cake” – it would be the perfect dessert cake for a crowd! Believe it or not, copies of this cookbook are still available on Amazon and used book sites.

Gooey Butter Coffee Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

½ cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

Mix cake mix, butter, 2 eggs and teaspoon vanilla together until well-blended. Press into a greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan making a 1/4-inch lip up the side of the baking dish. Beat powdered sugar, cream cheese, 2 eggs, teaspoon of vanilla and salt until well blended and pour over the top of cake batter. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 40 to 45 minutes. Cool. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar if desired. (Note, slice pictured is sans additional powdered sugar – wanted to make sure all the gooey layers were visible!)