Easy Tuesday

I just discovered a new (to me) meme hosted by Renae of "Simple Sequins" and her sister Mary of "merrydotdandy."  The meme is called Easy Tuesday and premiss is simple.  To do a easy post each Tuesday.  This week I am featuring items that spell out the word E-A-S-Y.  

         E is for energy, A is for Animal, S is for sassy and Y is for yummy!

                                  E N E R G Y

What has more energy then a group of children at play.  This shot was taken at our family gathering on New Year's Day 2012.  It features a few of the children in my family enjoying the sunny and moderately warm (for us) winter day. 

A N I M A L 

 I captured this adorable boxer sharing his human's fun yellow convertible, on one of the first days of school.  I was waiting in the carpool lane to pick up my sister's exchange student.                           

                                 S A S S Y

My dictionary tells me that something sassy is lively, bold and full of spirit.  I think this adorable little cow I found decorating a yard here in town is all that. She certainly invited me in to share her bench.        

Y U M M Y  

Home-baked version of the original St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Like many a delicacy -- fudge, brownies and chocolate chip cookies among them --the gooey butter cake was created by accident. Sometime in the 1930s, legend has it, a German baker in St. Louis inadvertently put too much sugar into his cake batter, and was too thrifty to waste it, so he baked it anyway.

The glutinous result was a hit and today there's hardly a bakery in St. Louis or the surrounding region that doesn't offer a version of this happy accident. 

Learn more about this scrumptious only-in-St. Louis treat and to get the recipe for the home-baked version click here.  

Linking to:

Easy Tuesday

Our World Tuesday 

Sunday Favorites # 19 --- Rerun of an oldie-- Gooey Butter Cake

Sunday Favorites is a meme that allows us to drag one of our old posts out of mothballs and into the light of a new day. After all, only so many posts can be on the first page and once they move down the stack they are seldom ever looked at again. It may have been fantastic or just so-so but, if it was posted on a bad day or slow week it might have had very few readers before falling into the pit called, "Older Posts".

You can check out this new Sunday meme at Happy to Design hosted by Chari. Heck, you might find some great stuff to read. Now for my re-run of an old post.


What is Gooey Butter Cake?

It's a scrumptious only-in-St. Louis treat served for breakfast, lunch or dinner -- ala mode or plain. What could be more sensuous and decadent than a gooey dessert, the kind that when you bite into it drips down your chin? When it comes to gooey desserts, perhaps the champion is the aptly named Gooey Butter Cake, though, surprisingly, it is little known outside my home region. Perhaps that's because the Gooey Butter Cake was invented here in St. Louis and possibly the recipe has been understandably safeguarded ever since.

Like many a delicacy -- fudge, brownies and chocolate chip cookies among them --the Gooey Butter Cake was created by accident. Sometime in the 1930s, legend has it; a German baker in St. Louis inadvertently put too much sugar into his cake batter and was too thrifty to waste it, so he just baked it instead.
The glutinous result was a hit and today there's hardly a bakery in St. Louis or the surrounding region that doesn't offer a version. The old Heimburger Bakery on South Lindbergh was especially famous for it.

You can find Gooey Butter Cake in bakeries all over the St. Louis area, but what's someone from out-of-town to do? Here's the answer. Enjoy making one of St. Louis' popular, quirky foods.

There appear to be at least two different approaches to making Gooey Butter Cake at home. One starts with a yeast-based dough over which a filling consisting chiefly of butter, sugar, milk and often corn syrup is poured. Similar to Philadelphia German butter cake, which may well have been the original version. More recently a version starting with a packaged cake mix has become popular. Its filling consists mainly of cream cheese and powdered sugar.

Bon Appetit!

Recipe attached.

1/2 cup butter
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1/2 t almond extract
4 cups of confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease one 9x13 cake pan. Melt butter. Empty cake mix into a large bowl. Stir melted butter, along with one egg, into the cake mix. Press mixture into pan. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, almond extract, confectioners sugar and the remaining two eggs. Beat for three minutes with an electric mixer set on medium high speed. Spread over top of the cake mixture in the pan. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes until golden brown on top. Allow cake to cool. Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar. (Cake will be gooey on the top, so don't over bake!)

"This a very rich cake, but mmmmmmmm so good. Best when eaten with milk or coffee. You can also make it a Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake if desired. Just use a chocolate cake mix in place of the yellow."

Check out what Wikipedia has to say about this cake.

What's Gooey Butter Cake?

What's Gooey Butter Cake?

 It's a scrumptious only-in-St. Louis treat served for breakfast, lunch or dinner,  ala mode or plain. What could be more sensuous and decadent than a gooey dessert, the kind that when you bite into it drips down your chin? And when it comes to gooey desserts, perhaps the champion is the aptly named gooey butter cake, though, surprisingly, it is little known outside my home region. Perhaps that's because the gooey butter cake was invented here in St. Louis and possibly because the recipe has been understandably safeguarded ever since.

Like many a delicacy, fudge, brownies and chocolate chip cookies among them, the gooey butter cake was created by accident. Sometime in the 1930s, legend has it, a German baker in St. Louis inadvertently put too much sugar into his cake batter and was too thrifty to waste it, so he just baked it anyway.
The glutinous result was a hit and today there's hardly a bakery in St. Louis or the surrounding region that doesn't offer a version. The old Heimburger Bakery on South Lindbergh was especially famous for it.

You can find Gooey Butter Cake in bakeries all over the St. Louis area, but what's someone from out-of-town to do? Here's the answer. Enjoy making one of St. Louis' popular, quirky foods.

There appear to be at least two different approaches to making gooey butter cake at home. One starts with a yeast-based dough over which a filling consisting chiefly of butter, sugar, milk and often corn syrup is poured. Similar to Philadelphia German butter cake, this may well have been the original version. More recently a version starting with a packaged cake mix has become popular. Its filling consists mainly of cream cheese and powdered sugar.

Bon Appetit!

Recipe attached.

1/2 cup butter
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1/2 t almond extract
4 cups of confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease one 9x13 cake pan. Melt butter. Empty cake mix into a large bowl. Stir melted butter, along with one egg, into the cake mix. Press mixture into pan. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, almond extract, confectioners sugar and the remaining two eggs. Beat for three minutes with an electric mixer set on medium high speed. Spread over top of the cake mixture in the pan. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes until golden brown on top. Allow cake to cool. Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar. (Cake will be gooey on the top, so don't over bake!)

"This a very rich cake, but mmmmmmmm so good. Best when eaten with milk or coffee. You can also make it a Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake if desired. Just use a chocolate cake mix in place of the yellow."