Teresa’s Bake Shop – Christmas Cookie edition – 2012

This is a delicious, decadent version of the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake recipes that have been available for the past thirty years or so. Lots of powdered sugar, blueberries, and cream cheese in a delicious homemade crust that’s oh, so, delectable! If you’re looking for a great holiday dessert this sweet dessert bar is amazing.

I found this recipe last summer at 1840 Farm and finally got around to making this spectacular recipe. While the original version of this recipe uses a boxed cake mix, this recipe doesn’t. While this version has blueberries, I think you could use chocolate chips, cinnamon or butterscotch chips, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, or peaches on top and have successful results with each one. The toppings would provide a slightly different taste, but the basic cream cheese and powdered sugar mixture in the dessert bar would still have its incredibly gooey texture.

I’ve made a few changes to the recipe that I think help improve the appearance and texture of this recipe. I added a little more butter to the crust so it is not so dry and doesn’t turn out of the pan so crumbly. I also sprinkled the top of the cake with powdered sugar which dresses the dessert bar up a little. I increased the amount of blueberries to add a little more punch. If you decide to change the topping ingredients to one of the others mentioned above, then add at least one cup of topping not the 1/2 cup from the original recipe to get a richer, fuller flavor.

Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake is an amazing recipe–one I think you and your family are really going to enjoy. It’s fairly easy to put together. You can have this amazing dessert bar ready to go into the oven in about 10 minutes. Yet the results are extraordinary. Why don’t you consider making this wonderful dessert bar for your holiday baking this season?

Here’s a look at a piece of this elegant dessert bar.

Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake is fancy enough to take along to holiday parties, or to make any time of the year for guests and company.

This is the most decadent cake-like dessert bar you will every eat.

The flavors in this recipe are amazing.

Here’s what I did.

Melt butter in mixing bowl in microwave.

Add UNBLEACED all-purpose flour and sugar. Bleached flour toughens baked goods.

Add baking powder and sea salt.

Stir all ingredients together.

Add egg.

Add milk.

Combine all ingredients. Because this mixture is so dry, I’ve increased the butter in the crust so it will be easier to combine and so the crust ingredients will stay together better without becoming crumbly.

Pat the crust into a baking dish that has been well-sprayed with cooking spray. I used Bakers Joy.

Set crust aside. In another mixing bowl, soften cream cheese in microwave.

Add butter.

Add eggs.

Add vanilla.

Add lemon juice.

Add powdered sugar.

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended.

Spread cream cheese mixture over top of the crust.

Wash blueberries.

Remove any stems and pat blueberries dry with towel.

Place blueberries evenly over cream cheese mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. The middle will not be completely firm.

Cool Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake. Sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar.

Here’s a close up look.

Here you can see the bars after they’ve been cut.

Here’s a close up so you can see the moist decadent texture of these incredibly rich dessert bars.

Your guests will love these wonderful treats.

Take a plate of these along to holiday parties and you will be cleaned out quickly.

Everyone will take one look at these festive dessert bars and grab one immediately!

Here’s the recipe.

BLUEBERRY GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

(Recipe adapted from 1840farm.com)

2 1/2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

6 tbsp. butter, melted

1 large egg

¼ cup milk

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup fresh blueberries

Powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°. Make the crust by combining flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Add the egg and milk and stir to fully incorporate. The mixture should be crumbly and evenly moistened. Evenly press the crust mixture into a greased or sprayed 9×13-inch baking dish. Pat down well so the ingredients adhere together well. Set aside while the topping is prepared. To prepare the topping, combine softened cream cheese, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and powdered sugar and mix with electric mixer until smooth. Pour topping over the prepared crust and spread to completely cover the crust. Wash and pat dry the blueberries. Remove any stems not removed during packaging. Sprinkle the blueberries over the top of the filling. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes. The cake is done when the topping develops a light brown color. The topping should not be completely set in the middle as it will firm up as the cake cools. Remove the cake from the oven and cool at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar. Cut into bars. Makes 24 dessert bars.

NOTE: Other toppings: chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, butterscotch chips, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, diced peaches, or sliced strawberries.