Tradition St. Louis Gooey Butter Bar

My heel spur is causing me to bed rest a lot and during such period, the only entertainment is my ipad.  Our TV program really suck and so is the cable.  Sometime I wish they put more thoughts in.  Actually I like their Chinese documentaries much better than the English.

Anyway, while surfing, I chanced upon this St. Louis Gooey Butter Bar and it got me interested.  Actually I like a bake that came with a story and this cake is one such.  This cake was born back in the 1930s. Apparently a baker was trying to bake a butter cake but he reversed the order.  Since it is in the Great Depression era, one needs to be thrifty and in order not to waste it, and he wker went ahead to bake it.

There are two versions and I went through tons of recipes and all came out from a yellow cake mix.

As much as possible, I like my bakes made from scratch.  After all, it is HOME BAKE, it should be more wholesome.  Don't you agree?

When I am about to give up, I spotted this.

I have never been to St. Louis but apparently this is their MUST eat if you visit this place.

If you are looking for something different to bake, you might want to consider this.

This is my first bake for 2017 and I will be serving this for tonight's dessert.

Findings: Mine did not turn out as gooey.  Based on that timing, perhaps I had over baked it.  Taste wise, it is not too bad.  It has this crusty base and a soft cake texture on top when eaten fresh.  After it cooled, the base is not crusty but dense like a soft cookie and the top is still fluffy.

In fact, my girl actually like it enough to ask for second helping.

Overall, I think this is interesting.  I might even want to double up the top layers in the future.

I will be attempting one with cream cheese next round.

Source:

What you need:
Serve 12

Crust

3 tbsp fresh milk, room temperature

2 tbsp very warm water (50°C)

7g instant yeast

85g butter

30g castor sugar

1 tsp salt

1 large egg

270g plain flour

Topping

170g unsalted butter

170g granulated sugar

½ tsp salt

3 tbsp plus 1 tsp light corn syrup

2 tbsp water

2½ tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

140g plain flour

Powdered sugar (for garnish)

Method:

For crust:

In a cup, combine warm water and milk.

Sprinkle yeast in milk/water mixture; stir to dissolve. Set aside.

In mixer bowl, beat butter until creamy, about 30 seconds

Add in sugar and salt. Beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Add egg and beat well.

Add flour and then yeast mixture; beat until well combined on low speed.

Spread dough evenly in ungreased 9 x 13-inch baking dish (pat dough with hands); set aside.

For topping:

In the mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar, and salt; beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.

In small bowl, combine corn syrup, water, and vanilla extract; set aside.

Add egg to butter/sugar mixture and beat until well combined.

With mixer at low speed, alternately add flour and corn syrup/water/ vanilla mixture, starting and ending with flour. Beat just until combined.

Spread topping evenly over the crust.

Bake in 180°C for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. 

Remove cake from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

When cool, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. 

Enjoy!