Warning! If you cook this you will never stop cooking it for family and friends. Original Recipe Name: Ooey Gooey History: This cake is a legendary Depression-era mistake. The story goes that a baker in St. Louis accidentally mixed up the ingredient proportions for his cake, resulting in a gooey texture. Because it was the Depression, they couldn’t just throw it out, so they sold it and it was an instant hit. My Background with the Original Recipe Although I was born in St. Louis, Missouri and lived there for my first eighteen years no one in my family had ever made this desert. Believe me after you have just one bite. The first words out of your mouth will be OMG! It like the old Lays Potato Chips commercial when I was growing up in the 90's. You can't just take one bite or one slice. You will want to steal it and eat the whole thing by yourself. My first time eating a form of Ooey Gooey was upon my return from Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in June 1990. The West-bank Revival church in Terrytown, Louisiana gave me a welcome home party serving Kentucky Fried Chicken. Normally I would love to stuff my face with KFC but this time was different. Every desert has to look good and this did but after the first bite hit the taste buds the look of it doesn't matter any more. During the gulf War there were certain foods forbidden because of the religious traditions in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and because of this there was no bacon or pork. The main meal was chicken. I was sick of chicken upon my return back to New Orleans. The church secretary (Susie I think) made this desert sprinkled with white powdered sugar. I don't normally eat a lot of deserts but on that warm summer day I had my first taste of the world's best desert. I remember asking her what the name of the desert was and she said, "Ooey Gooey." I won't ever forget that first bite and the name speaks for itself. I had one taste and knew I had to have this recipe. So I remember walking two miles to their home to get the recipe in 1990 because I had no car at the time. The recipe written on the back of a Christmas card got misplaced over the years and so I never made it but I did remember some of the ingredients because I saw her make it for another church function. I must have tried to duplicate the recipe dozens of times always failing. My experiments always lacked a missing ingredient or too much of one thing or another. In 2003 after finding the best wife ever (Joyce) I made it for a Christmas Eve party and over the past fourteen years I have finally perfected my version of that funny named desert. If you research it on the internet search for Ooey Gooey butter cake and the recipe that came close was the one from Paula Dean. But Paula's not the original and my first memorable bite and taste had pecans in it. You will find multiple versions on the internet. Because I have family members who are diabetic I had to modify the recipe to reduce the amount of sugar. The original was really sweet beyond the words because Susie would put four cups of sugar into cream mixture to top off the cake. So the name will have to change and below you will find one of the enduring family recipes from my next book (Annapolis Creed: Enduring Classic Recipes) done in collaboration with my wife Joyce as we record our family traditional meals from Pops and Nana Joyce. Bon Appetit! Recipe Follows Below Recipe Name: Annapolis Creed Goo Cake
Ingredients Cake 1 (15.25 or 18 oz) package butter cake mix 1 egg 8 tablespoons melted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 Tablespoons of light brown sugar ½ teaspoon kosher salt 1 package pecan half pieces or pecan pieces Goo 8 tablespoons melted butter 1 (8 oz) package Philadelphia softened cream cheese (microwave for 45 seconds) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cup (16 oz) powdered confectionery sugar 1/2 cup of light brown sugar 1 teaspoon Wild Turkey or Jack Daniels Bourbon (Age & Flavor) Christmas Holiday Topping (Optional) ¼ teaspoon nutmeg to cake mixture (optional for Christmas time) ¼ teaspoon cinnamon to cake mixture (optional for Christmas time) Directions Preheat oven to 350 °F. Apply butter flavored cooking spray to a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Take 1 tbsp. of flour to coat the bottom and sides of the pan, shake and discard the excess. Combine the cake mix, 1 eggs, 8 tablespoons butter and mix well with an electric mixer or by hand. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Add the pecans to the top of the cake mixture. Place cream cheese in microwave for 30-45 seconds to soften. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the 2 eggs, vanilla extract and 8 tablespoons butter and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, (optional nutmeg & cinnamon), Wild Turkey Bourbon, and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 30-45 minutes (Set timer for 30 minutes because oven temperatures vary) or until topping is golden. Allow to cool somewhat to set topping (slides off when warm). Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.
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AuthorDr. Jordan Smith and his wife Joyce share some of their family recipes in the first cook book covering six decades of family dishes. Archives
July 2018
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