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Welcome to Cooking 100-year-old Recipes.
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I'm Stephanie and in this video I'm
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looking at the ooey gooey buttercake.
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Imagine a dessert so rich, so buttery,
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and so sweet that it became a hometown
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treasure, all because of a baking
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Today, I'm making and sharing the story
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of Ooey Gooey Buttercake, a St. Louis
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original with a surprising Dallas twist
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that later got tied to Nean Marcus. Is
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it a cake made in a far away land with a
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designer label slapped on? Let's find
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Now, this is my first time making and
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tasting this cake. If you have a family
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story around this cake, perhaps a
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beloved variation, I'd love to hear
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about it in the comments below. Maybe
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So, what makes this cake so special?
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It's golden, soft, and melts in your
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mouth. But it's history, that's where
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things get a little more interesting.
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The story begins in St. Louis in the
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1930s or 40s. A local baker was
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preparing a standard buttercake, but in
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a moment of distraction, he accidentally
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reversed the proportions of butter and
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Instead of fluffy batter, he ended up
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with something much richer and stickier.
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He decided to bake it anyway, and the
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result was this gooey, custard-like cake
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with a crackly golden top.
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Word spread quickly and soon other St.
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Louis bakeries were making their own
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St. Louis was the perfect city for this
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dessert to catch on. The community had a
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strong German American root. And with
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that came a love of dense, buttery,
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heavy pastries and coffee cakes.
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This gooey creation fit right into the
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German tradition of cafe and kuchin
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coffee and cake shared in the afternoon.
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It became a natural addition to bakery
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cases often enjoyed in neighborhood
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cafes and church gatherings.
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By the midentth century, gooey
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buttercake was everywhere in St. Louis.
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Some form of the cake could be found in
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every bake shop in the area.
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The ooey gooey cake you will find cut
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into squares like bar cookies, not
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slices, and it is always dusted
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generously with powdered sugar. That's
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part of its identity. For many locals,
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it's a taste of childhood and community
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gatherings. right up there with toasted
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ravioli and St. Louis style pizza as a
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true hometown classic.
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But the story does not stop in Missouri.
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In the 1980s and 1990s, a new name began
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circulating, the Neiman Marcus cake.
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Recipes under this title popped up in
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church cookbooks, on recipe cards, and
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at potlucks, especially in Texas and the
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But now here's the twist. Nean Marcus,
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the luxury department store in Dallas,
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never created or sold the cake. Just
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like the famous $250 Nean Marcus cookie
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urban legend, the name spread as a kind
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of culinary myth, giving the dessert a
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glamorous association.
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For many home bakers, though, Nean
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Marcus cake was simply another name for
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gooey buttercake. The recipes were
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nearly identical. A cake mix crust
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topped with a rich layer of cream
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cheese, eggs, and powdered sugar. The
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result, that same gooey, buttery,
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custard-like center St. Louis had been
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enjoying for decades.
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Then, to complicate things further, some
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versions of Neiman Marcus cake were
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completely different. In certain
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cookbooks, it might mean a chocolate
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layer cake, a pecan bar, or even
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something like a Texas sheet cake. This
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is where I would love you to tell me
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what your family recipe is for it. If
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you have one, put it in the comments.
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So, depending where you lived, Neiman
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Marcus cake could mean the gooey butter
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classic or something else entirely. You
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have to be careful before you order so
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you know what to expect on your plate.
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Now, let's go into my kitchen and I'm
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going to make this and give it a try.
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See what I think. And if you haven't had
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it, I'm going to tell you my experience
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Now, you can see the ingredients are
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very simple and there's just a few. So,
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you'll start making the base with your
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yellow or vanilla box cake mix and add
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to that one stick of melted butter and
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two eggs. This makes a cookie like dough
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almost like a sugar cookie dough that
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you would roll out for cutting.
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From here, I'm going to press it into an
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11 by9 pan. Now, normally you would line
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it, but I generally use silicone for my
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baking. So, there's no need to grease or
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Because it's so thick and dense, I'm
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going to press it in with my hand.
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And even a little bit smoothing I'm
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doing with the back of the wooden spoon.
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Now I have my cream cheese softened and
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the oven is preheating to 350°.
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The next layer is the gooey layer. It's
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8 oz of cream cheese,
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one egg, and four cups of powdered
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sugar. I went a little bit light on the
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powdered sugar so it would not be overly
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Then you combine well until it's nice
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Pour the top layer over the bottom. Now,
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the bottom is not pre-baked. These all
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baked together just like you would bake
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And it bakes in the oven for about 35 to
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40 minutes until it's slightly soft in
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the center and the edges look golden
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This needs to cool thoroughly at least 2
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and then you sprinkle it, of course,
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generously with powdered sugar. Now, I'm
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recording this 3 days after I made it.
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And like with many things, it tastes
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better the next day. I remember as a
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child, even into my teens, my mother
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when she would make my birthday cakes, I
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started asking her to make them the day
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before so that the flavors could meld
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together a little bit better. Now, look
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at the delicious gooey center. My
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impression of this upon tasting is it's
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very reminiscent of lemon bars without
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the lemon flavor. It's got that crackly
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crunch, the crumbly bottom.
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goes down easy vanilla custardy bar type
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of cookie. There's a little bit of chew
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to it and it's I see why people love it
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so much. It's got a very elegant
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taste to it. Decadent and rich. I
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enjoyed it so much. Now, I do see a lot
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of talk of pecans being put in this,
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which I would totally be interested in
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trying. I love nuts in my desserts, and
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pecans are a favorite in baked goods.
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So, again, please tell me your variation
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so that the next time I make it, I can
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try it out. Please give this video a
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like. Of course, I love to hear from you
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in the comments. And consider
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subscribing. I'd love to see you again.
