Spiced to perfection and a fun twist on a classic St. Louis favorite, this spiced gingerbread gooey butter cake is a Christmas favorite! 

Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake 1

Spiced Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake | A twist on a St. Louis Favorite

This week is all about tradition, titled “Home for the Holidays” and there is nothing that is better than being home for the holidays spending time with family or friends.

It has always been a tradition in our family to go to my mom’s for Christmas day.

Even when I lived elsewhere across the country, I always came home for Christmas.

Now I live close to my mom and there is still nowhere I’d rather be on Christmas day than at her house.

Growing up in St. Louis, we have lots of foods that are “St. Louis things.”

One of these is the Gooey Butter Cake and we usually have one at nearly all holiday celebrations.

You really can’t live in St. Louis and not love Gooey Butter Cake.

It is a St. Louis favorite and originated here in the 1930’s and still today, remains a very popular dessert choice.

There isn’t a bakery in my area who doesn’t have them.

I cannot remember a time I didn’t enjoy Gooey Butter Cake.

I can remember eating it at many holiday meals when I was very young all the way up to more recent holiday’s.

Leave it to me to take something perfect already and try to change it up a little and make it a little different but, I did just that.

I tend to get caught up with seasonal flavors and ingredients around holiday time.

Last year it was a lot of peppermint items, this year it’s gingerbread.

So I decided there had to be a way to take this amazing, awesome Gooey Butter Cake and change it up for the holidays.

I created a Spiced Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake.

The glory of this cake is that the original Gooey Butter Cake has the appearance of looking like a “mistake”.

It just looks… like a mess. But it tastes great.

So I figured, as long as I could create a cake that would stay together like the original, the appearance didn’t have to play that big a part.

I needed it to stay together, taste great and be something I’d want to serve others.

I managed to do it, and so I present you with my Spiced Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake.

Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake 1

Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake 1

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Recipe for Spiced Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake

Spiced Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake Featured Image

Spiced Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake

Nicole Cook
Spiced to perfection and a fun twist on a classic St. Louis favorite, this spiced gingerbread gooey butter cake is a Christmas favorite! 
4.86 from 7 votes
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 405 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Cake:

  • 3 tablespoons milk room temperature
  • teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 egg
  • cups all-purpose flour

For the topping:

  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup + 1 teaspoon
  • 1 Tablespoons molasses
  • teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
  • cups brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour + 3 tablespoons
  • powdered sugar for sprinkling.

Instructions
 

For the Cake:

  • In a small bowl, mix the milk with the warm water. Then add the yeast and whisk until all the yeast dissolves.
  • In your stand mixture, cream the butter, sugar, salt and all the spices together in the bowl.
  • Scrap the sides down and then beat in the egg.
  • Add half the flour and combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half the milk/yeast mixture and mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the rest of the flour, mix – add the rest of the milk mixture and mix until dough is smooth and a giant ball. Took me about 4-5 minutes.
  • Press your dough into an ungreased 9×13 inch standard glass baking dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and put in a warm place and allow to rise until doubled has doubled. About 2½ hours.

For the topping:

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a small bowl, mix the corn syrup, molasses, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of water. Set aside.
  • In your stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar and salt until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl and beat in your egg.
  • Add half the flour and mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half the corn syrup mixture and mix. Scrape down the sides. Add the rest of the flour, mix and then add the rest of the corn syrup and mix.
  • Spoon the mixture over your risen cake and use a spatula to gently spread it in an even layer across the entire top
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes (could take a little longer); this cake will rise and fall in different areas and have a golden brown top and liquid center when done.
  • Cool on cooling rack.
  • Sift powdered sugar on the top across the entire cake. Slice and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 405kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 4gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 317mgPotassium: 123mgFiber: 1gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 572IUVitamin C: 0.05mgCalcium: 48mgIron: 2mg
Keyword easy cake recipes
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26 Comments

  1. I love Butter Cake and can’t wait to try this delicious version! Thank you so much for everything you have done to make #SundaySupper what it is! It has been such a pleasure getting to know you and your family this past year. Merry Christmas!

    1. Merry Christmas Isabel, thank you for creating #SundaySupper and reminding us all how important family time is together around the family table. I am so grateful for this supportive group and network for friends. 🙂

  2. I didn’t know you were from St. Louis. I lived there for 3 years while my husband attended seminary. I worked at the Starbucks in Ladue and we would trade lattes for Gooey Butter Cookies with the employees of the food store next door. Are you a fellow Cardinals fan? This cake looks amazing. My husband would flip for it. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Lesa, I am indeed from St. Louis. Grew up here but then moved around a bit after getting married and am now back home to stay. I grew up just next door to Ladue, so you’re talking very close. I am indeed a fellow Cardinal’s fan. Gooey Butter Cookies are to die for, especially fresh from the bakery or the kitchen. 🙂 I didn’t realize you had lived here, so good to know. My brother attended Covenant Theological Seminary for a bit of time. Such a small world friend, I’m happy to have that connection now. 🙂

    1. lol You’re welcome 🙂 I can tell Linda and I will get along great! Guess what I got in the mail yesterday? Made my ENTIRE DAY! (Seriously – it’s the little things like that, that truly make my heart smile). Love ya girl – Merry Christmas!!

  3. My family loves Gooey Butter Cake…and it’s not much of a leap to know they’d enjoy your gingerbread version! Merry, merry Christmas, Nicole!

  4. As a fellow St Louisian for most of my life, I LOVE gooey butter cake. It is so much fun to share it with people in Wisconsin, where I am now, and watch them fall apart at how delicious it is! This sounds like a fabulous twist that we will have to try!

  5. Just reading the words gooey butter cake makes me hungry. Then you go and add the gingerbread twist and YUM!

    I hope you and your family has the most wonderful Christmas and New Year!

  6. Nicole, that doesn’t look a mess at all! It looks freaking delicious! Especially after reading your description of gooey butter cake (which I’ve never tried before) and the addition of gingerbread? Yum! Happy holidays, lady! I hope you’ve been having a fantastic time with your family.

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