Buttercake in a league of its own
Everyone has their must-do list for travelling. For me, it’s all about the must-eat. You see, I associate food with travel. It defines my memories of the places I’ve visited. While I may sometimes forget what I saw on a trip, I never forget what I’ve eaten.
A few years ago, we had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Philadelphia. I had to dig deep to remember why we were in Philly but what came easily to me was what I ate. Having never been to the home of the cheesesteak sandwich, I naturally researched extensively on what we should try while we were there. There were many recommended delicious eats, but two items topped my must eat list, and they were both located at the Reading Terminal Market. How convenient. Every foodie blog I came across, raved about Dinic’s roast pork sandwich and the Flying Monkey’s gooey buttercake. I made it our mission to try both.
Those bloggers weren’t wrong. Dinic’s roast pork sandwich was delicious. Tender slow roasted pork with Italian seasonings, sliced paper-thin, dunked first in jus, then piled high on a freshly baked roll, topped with garlicky broccoli rabe and sharp provolone cheese. The combination of the roast pork, slightly bitter broccoli rabe and sharp cheese was a heavenly combination.
I polished off the entire sandwich myself thinking that there was no way I was going to be able to possibly eat the Flying Monkey’s buttercake. But since I wasn’t going to be defeated by something as trivial as a full belly, I purchased one slice to share among the three of us. The buttercake was off-the-chart scrumptious. Good thing we tasted our piece of buttercake at the market otherwise I would have had to drag my family back simply to purchase more.
If you’ve never had buttercake, you’re in for a real treat. Despite its name, buttercake looks nothing like a cake. Its shallow profile consists of a dense crust like that of a blondie with crisp edges and a chewy middle. The top layer is creamy, almost custard like, achieved by beating cream cheese, eggs and confectioner’s sugar until light and fluffy. It’s baked in a hot oven until the top turns a light golden shade, yet the centre remains almost jiggly. It’s the slight underbaking that creates the most deliciously gooey layer. It’s an old-school dessert that’s low on the esthetic scale, focusing solely on its sweet, rich, and buttery flavour.
In today’s social mediafocused environment where looks matter, the gooey buttercake is modest and humble. It is a bright shade of yellow, measures almost two inches tall, lacks adornment except for a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Like a love-sick teenager, I could not get the memory of that delicious buttercake out of my mind. The more I tried, the worse it got. I scoured the internet for the recipe and found two versions. Apparently the gooey buttercake is also called the St. Louis buttercake, and in the south, Chess cake. Regardless of what it is called, it was made either with yeast, or a cake mix. I tried both recipes and concluded that the one made with store-bought cake mix was closer in taste and texture to the one we had in Philly.
I normally bake from scratch, but I figured why mess with this insanely easy yet delicious recipe? So I’m sharing one of the easiest yet yummiest treats ever. The original buttercake is very sweet, not that I have a problem with that. But because I wanted it to work as a treat I could eat at any time during the day, I decreased the amount of sugar in the recipe. Rest assured, it’s still delicious! While the recipe consists of only five ingredients, there are a few secrets to achieving that perfect buttercake texture.
• Do not overbake the cake. Remove the cake from the oven just when it’s lightly golden and still jiggly in the middle. Otherwise, the cake will taste dry.
• Skip the margarine. Only use real butter in this recipe for the best flavour. Also, use salted butter as the salt will help offset the sweetness of the cake.
• Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature before using. This will help produce a lump-free cream cheese mixture.
OOEY GOOEY BUTTERCAKE
Adapted from Paula Deen’s Original Gooey Buttercake recipe
1 package (432g) golden yellow cake mix
1/2 cup (113g) salted butter, melted, and cooled to room temperature
2 large eggs
Gooey layer:
1 (250g) block-style cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (113g) salted butter, melted, and cooled to room temperature
2 large eggs
2-1/2 cups (300g) confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9-by-12inch baking pan with butter and line pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
In a standing mixer outfitted with a paddle attachment, add the cake mix, melted butter and eggs. Mix on low speed, scraping down the sides, until the mixture forms a dough.
Transfer the dough onto the parchment lined baking pan. Using your fingers, spread the dough so that it forms an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
Without washing the bowl, add the softened cream cheese to the same bowl. With the same paddle attachment, beat on low speed until the cream cheese is creamy.
Add one egg at a time, beating in between until the mixture is smooth and no lumps are visible. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and mix well on low speed until fully incorporated. Then turn up speed to medium and continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy, approximately 5-7 minutes.
Pour the cream cheese mixture over the cake dough and using a spatula, spread the cream cheese mixture so that it covers the entire pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes. To ensure that you do not over bake, check the cake around the 25-minute mark. The cake is done when the top looks slightly golden, the outside edges are set and only the middle is jiggly. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool. If the edges jiggle, continue baking for another 5 minutes and check again.
Place pan on a wire rack to cool, approximately one hour. Using a sharp, thinbladed knife, slice the cake into 3-inch squares. To get clean cuts, rinse and dry the knife in between cuts. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve.
Store leftover buttercake in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To serve, remove buttercake from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. Enjoy!
Makes one 9” x 12” pan