Gooey Butter Cake In A Bag is a fun way to prepare a delicious dessert that has a cookie-like yellow cake crust with a lemony cream cheese filling. The caramelized top makes a nice presentation and tastes great.
Although the crust’s ingredients are combined in a zippered plastic bag, an electric mixer is required for the filling. This is a fun baking project for adults and children.
If desired, use a bowl to combine ingredients for the crust.
EDITOR’S NOTE (June 15, 2020): Added one new photo. Updated text for clarity.
DISCLAIMER: This dessert is not sponsored.  I purchased pictured products and enjoyed using them.
Ingredients are easy to combine in a large zippered bag (gallon size).
The mixture forms into a very smooth texture that’s easy to press into the prepared baking dish.
This “famous” dessert is also known as a Chess Cake that originated in St. Louis, Missouri during the 1930s.
According to wikipedia.org, The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission website has a recipe for the cake called, one of St. Louis’ popular, quirky foods.
The cake is dusted with confectioner’s sugar before being served at room temperature or warm. I like it cold!
Almost all bakeries in the greater St. Louis area sell this cake.
Paula Deen’s version is called Ooey Gooey Butter Cake.
I discovered the original recipe on Allrecipes. Called for FOUR cups of confectioner’s sugar. That is a LOT of sugar. I was still curious about how it would taste.
I made it once. Too sweet for me.Â
The second time I baked this cake, I reduced sugar to 3 cups and added lemon juice.  Rather than sprinkle more confectioner’s sugar on top like most, I placed the baked dessert under the broiler to form a delicious caramelized crust. Makes a lovely presentation and tastes much better (my opinion).
Desserts made with cream cheese should be refrigerated to maintain fresh flavor.
Enjoy this very rich dessert!
Gooey Butter Cake in a Bag
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine cake mix, melted butter, and beaten egg in a large zippered freezer bag. A sandwich bag is too thin. Freezer bags are sturdy. Close bag completely. Massage bag until all ingredients form a smooth dough (10-15 minutes). If preferred, use a stand mixer. Or, combine ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
- Remove cake batter from bag. It will be firm and easy to manage (texture reminds me of play dough). There may be a few dry crumbs. Simply press into batter until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, add softened cream cheese, melted butter, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Use an electric mixer to stir until smooth. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Stir until filling is smooth.
- Lightly butter a 9x5 baking dish or cake pan. Firmly press cake batter (texture similar to play dough) into bottom. Pour filling evenly over dough. Smooth with the back of a spoon.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Oven temperatures vary. Decrease to 325 degrees if baking too fast. Avoid over baking. Gooey center will jiggle when done.
- Cake is done when a knife inserted in center comes out with a little filling on the blade and a clean tip. If dough is on the tip, return to oven. Check every 10 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out with a clean tip.
- Place cake under broiler for 1-2 minutes to brown.
- Cake will firm up and stop jiggling after cooling 15 minutes. Serve warm or hot.