St Louis Style Gooey Butter Cake

Very rarely do I share family recipies. It is not because they are anything so totally wondeful that anyone couldn figure out or make the same thing or even better, its just that my mom, Gertrude, was such a beloved icon of cooking by her many many close friends and family, that it has taken years for any of us since her passing to admit we have been hording these magnificant written memories of a person so beloved of our hearts, cause it just is not the same without her.

Even last night, at my first attempt to make this cake since her passing over 15 years ago it felt strange to be reading the ingredients without thinking that somewhere out there she wasnt preparing it to send me some at college or even to my brother far away in vietnam.

So, to end this weeping memorial to my mom today read more I have decided to share the recipie with the world.

1 boxed yellow cake mix

1 stick butter or margarine

2 beaten eggs

Mix together and spread with oiled hands thick onto the bottom of an 8x8x4 inch pan bringing the dough up the sides of the pan slightly.8 oz of room temp cream cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound of powered sugar( reserving some to sprinkle on top of finished cake)

Beat ingredients together with an electric mixer till smooth and pour on top pf crust

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or untill top is golden.

Cool at least 15 minutes and sprinkle top with reserved powdered sugar. but it sure tastes good while I am!

My mom had lots of recipes like that as well. unfortunately, the way they were written, if you didn know my mother you would never figure out what she meant. Like cooking something till it a “medium dark caramel brown” instead of by temperature.