I was introduced to the wonder that is Gooey Butter Cake by my Aunt Lissa. Aunt Lissa and Aunt Robin are probably the two best bakers in my family and while Robin’s chocolate chip cookies are superior, Lissa brings the yum with the gooey butter cake.
Gooey Butter Cake originated in St. Louis, Missouri. A local baker got all kinds of mixed up when adding the butter and flour in a cake recipe and out came this new dessert, or so the legend goes. However it came about, it’s a staple dessert in that area that has migrated over the years into the deep south. It’s so popular even Paula Deen has her own version using boxed cake mix and an entire pound of powdered sugar. Yikes!
While we obviously aren’t going to use Paula’s ingredients, I did manage to ketofy this beauty from St. Louis with more friendly components, and hopefully it makes my Aunt Lissa proud.
Gooey Butter Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 32 squares
- Category: Baked, Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Cake Bottom:
- 7 oz (198 g) almond flour, super fine (I use King Arthur brand)
- 2 1/4 oz (64 g) granulated sweetener (I used Swerve)
- 2 scoops (0.7 oz/ 20 g) unflavored collagen peptides powder
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- generous pinch salt
- 1 stick (4 oz/ 113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs, large
- 1/2 c (4 fl oz/ 118 ml) heavy cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 20 drops liquid stevia, vanilla flavored
For the Cream Cheese Top:
- 1 brick (8 oz/ 2267 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/4 oz (35 g) powdered sweetener (I used Swerve Confectioner’s)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 20 drops liquid stevia, vanilla flavored
- 2 eggs, large
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 oz/ 170 g) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- more powdered sweetener to garnish, if desired
Instructions
For the Cake bottom:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a 13″x9″ baking dish.
- Stir the dry ingredients together.
- Add the melted butter into the dry mixture and stir to incorporate.
- Stir the vanilla, liquid stevia, and egg into the heavy cream and beat with a fork until well combined.
- Mix by hand into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Smooth the batter evenly into the bottom of the baking dish.
For the Topping:
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese over medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the powdered sweetener and beat until combined.
- Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and liquid stevia and mix until smooth.
- Beat in the melted butter until completely smooth.
- Pour the mixture over the top of the cake bottom in the baking dish and smooth evenly over the top.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, or until set and the top is lightly browned and no longer jiggly.
- Remove from the oven and let stand to cool.
- When completely cool, slice into 32 squares and garnish with additional powdered sweetener. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container.
Notes
Per square: 152.8 cal, 3.4 g protein, 15 g fat, 5.2 g carbohydrate, 0.4 g fiber, 3.4 g sugar alcohol, 1.4 g NET carbs
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 square
Keywords: Gooey Butter Cake, Dessert
Wren (From KetoCon) says
What brand of collagen peptides do you use? Like Vital Proteins? Is Great Lakes Gelatin Collagen the same thing? If so, the orange or green can?
Mandy Pagano says
I tend to use Vital Proteins (in the light blue container) because it’s the one that’s readily available in my area. I looked it up and you’re looking for the green canister of Great Lakes. It should say Collagen Hydrosolate and the ingredients should just be hydrolyzed collagen.
Veronica says
I made this dish following this recipe to the point and the cake turned out just like you described it gooey and delicious, really made my day!
★★★★★
Mandy Pagano says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Kevy says
What can i use in stead of swerve?
Mandy Pagano says
I would suggest using the white Lakanto sweetener and powdering the amount in the topping kn a spice or coffee grinder.
Lakanto bakes very similarly to Swerve so it’s a good choice for substitutions.
Pete says
Haven’t tried it yet, but I will. However, I need a little education: 5.2 gms of carbs, less 0.4 grams of fiber = 4.8 gms NET carbs. What am I missing here?
Mandy Pagano says
If you count net carbs, you can also subtract the sugar alcohol from the total carbohydrates. Subtracting both dietary fiber and sugar alcohol is what yields the net carb count I listed.
Kenneth says
Well this might help ,For a quick review, a ketogenic diet typically contains a total of 20-30 grams of carbs a day, a moderate amount of protein, and then the rest of your intake is all fat. For a LCHF diet, aim for no more than 100 grams of carbs each day.
For example, someone following a 2000 calorie keto diet would eat 25 grams of carbs (5%), 100 grams of protein (20%), and 165 grams of fat (75%) each day.
If you’re following a LCHF 2000 calorie diet, this might look like 100 grams of carbs (20%), 100 grams of protein (20%), and 135 grams of fat (60%) each day.
Of course your carb intake can be anywhere between 20-100 grams of carbs a day. Try to keep protein intake around 20% to 25% and then the remainder of your calories will be from fateunsetee.com/CL33.
Julie says
Is the Stevia drops needed? I recently made frosting using Stevia drops and it had that bitter aftertaste Stevia can have if too much is used. I have monkfruit white and allulose.
Mandy Pagano says
You can use some extra granulated sweetener, to taste.
April Johnson says
Do I have to use collagen peptides powder? Is there a substitute?
Lorin says
If I substitute swerve or monk fruit for the stevia drops, do I need to add any liquid ?
Mandy Pagano says
No, it’s fine. The stevia drops contribute a fraction is a teaspoon of liquid. You don’t need to replace that.