Cinnamon Gooey Butter Cake
It’s that time again…freezer stock for lunches is getting low. I try to keep 2 or 3 lunch snack options, and it’s getting pretty scarce in there.
What makes this more difficult for me is that hubby is not really a fan of chocolate. I know!!! How can that be? I don’t understand it, but there it is. If it has apple in it, or a grain of cinnamon, he’s likely all over it. Soooo, I started searching for something different. I’ve done molasses crinkles, snickerdoodles, oatmeal, apple chunk, blah blah….time for something a little different. So I went googling, and when I saw this one, I was pretty sure I had a winner. Soft, cakey, cinnamon, what’s not to like? Weeeellll, it’s not exactly your low calorie health food. Tough. His skinny self doesn’t care.
And you know what? This thing is TOTALLY worth every calorie! It’s got that moist cake layer on the bottom, then that gooey layer. Then that cinnamon-sugar top? It turns into this crunchy cinnamon-sugar crusty crunchy yuuuummmm…. This in NOT all going to make it to the freezer. Fortunately, most of it did. But, it was still on the counter cooling when hubs came home. I had my face in the computer. When I went back out to the kitchen, it was obvious he had been hacking away at it. He just gave me that look, kind of a smirk. I said “you like?” He just did the “Mmmm hmmmm” with that smirk. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.
I’ve seen a number of recipes for different types of gooey butter cake, but most of them start with a cake mix. Cake Mixes can be a wonderful thing – if you aren’t used to making from-scratch cakes, and you need to crank out a cake in a hurry, without worrying about having it hold up to decorating and/or traveling, or you’re just plain in a hurry, they can be great (if you get the right brand that is. The brand DOES make a difference). But if you have the time and/or a proven recipe, make it from scratch. It’s not full of preservatives that way, and you know exactly what went into it. Besides, they typically taste better.
Anyway, to me there is no reason to use a cake mix for this. It certainly isn’t difficult to make. And it is SO good, I wouldn’t want to mess with it.
- Cookie Base
- 1½ cups (190g) flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 115g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
- Soft Gooey Layer
- ¼ cup (60ml) light corn syrup or golden syrup
- ¼ cup (60ml) whole milk or heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks, 170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225g) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1¼ (155g) cups flour
- Cinnamon Topping
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Line a 9- by 13-inch cake pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all four sides. (I overturn the pan, shape the foil over the bottom, remove it, then flip the pan over and ease the foil into the pan.) Spray the foil in the pan with nonstick spray or brush with melted butter.
- To make the cookie base, whisk together the 1½ cups (190g) flour, baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Beat the 8 tablespoons (115g) of butter and the ¾ cup (150g) of sugar in the bowl of stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or by hand, until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the egg and the milk and mix in, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients, until fully incorporated. Put the mixture in the cake pan in dollops (it’s too thick to spread if you add it all in the same place), and spread it into an even layer with an offset spatula.
- (You don’t need to clean the bowl; you can reuse it for the next step.)
- To make the soft gooey layer, in a small bowl, whisk together the corn syrup or golden syrup with the milk or cream, and vanilla.
- Beat the 12 tablespoons (170g) of butter with the 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225g) of sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Add one-third of the 1¼ cup (155g) flour, then half of the milk/corn syrup mixture. Add another one-third of the flour, then the rest of the milk/corn syrup mixture. Then stir in the remaining flour. Dollop the batter over the unbaked cookie layer and spread evenly.
- Mix together the 2 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle it evenly over the cake.
- Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, or until the cake feels slightly damp, but gently set in the center. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. When cool, lift out the cake using the overhang of the foil, and cut the cake into 1-inch (3cm) squares.
- Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook via David lebovitz