St Louis Gooey Butter Cake

So, If there is anyone in the world that does not follow Smitten Kitchen religiously, they are missing out on so many good meals! I made Deb's St Louis Gooey Butter Cake last night for the dinner party and it tastes just as good as it looks. This was an "oh my god, this might be the best thing I've ever tasted and there's not ANY chocolate in it" moment. I will make this again...and again.

We only had 5 for dinner last night and ate half the pan. I also must say that the cake was still very palatable this morning with my cup of coffee. The gooey-ness seems to have lessened, but the taste, oh the taste, is still incredible!

Disclaimer: This is not health food. I haven't figured out the points, but sufficient to say you should not eat more than 1 or 2 pieces. Rob ate 3 last night and thought 4 might make him sick. That being said, I ran out of white flour while making the cake portion and used 1/4 cup whole wheat flour instead. The dessert still tasted amazing. I think next time I will try half white and half whole wheat for the cake and maybe even make it to 100% whole wheat flour. I would stick with white flour for the topping though and I went to the store while the cake was rising and bought more flour.

Here is a link to the original post. You really should go there, she takes some awesome photos.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/03/st-louis-gooey-butter-cake/

And here is the recipe with my minor modifications.

St Louis Gooey Butter Cake
makes 24 pieces (which really only serves about 12 people)


For the cake
3 tablespoons milk at room temperature
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
6 tablespoons butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the topping
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon corn syrup (recipe says light corn syrup, but I only had dark)
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling.

Make the cake dough: In a small bowl, mix milk with 2 Tablespoons warm water. Add yeast and whisk gently until it dissolves. Mixture should foam slightly.

Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and the milk mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition. You could switch to a dough hook at this point, but I stuck with the paddle attachment and it worked just fine. Either way, beat the dough on medium speed until it forms a smooth mass and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Press, stretch and nudge dough into a buttered 9-by 13-inch glass baking dish at least 2 inches deep. Cover dish with plastic wrap or clean tea towel, put in a warm place, and allow to rise until doubled, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Make the gooey topping: Heat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare topping, in a small bowl, whisk corn syrup with 2 tablespoons water and the vanilla. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and corn syrup mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

Spoon topping in large dollops over risen cake and use an offset spatula to gently spread it in an even layer. Bake for approximately 30 until the top of the cake is a golden brown and does not jiggle. Cake will rise and fall in waves and have a golden brown top, but will still be liquid in center when done. Allow to cool in pan before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar for serving.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

We had a small foods dinner party last night and I tried to recreate this incredible goat cheese and "red" sauce dip I had a couple of weeks ago at a tapas restaurant in Chicago. I thought it was made from tomatoes and red peppers (the color really tipped me off) but unfortunately I didn't pay enough attention to the subtle flavors....this is a good challenge for me!

Same, this was not, but this was a really good and flavorful and versatile sauce that i will definitely make again! I already have lots of ideas about how to use the leftovers. These ideas include: pasta (this sauce was made to be poured over pasta!), grilled zucchini (I can't wait for spring!), couscous with roasted root vegetables, and over polenta. I also want to try thinning it down with some olive oil and vinegar and trying it as a salad dressing. The only thing I will consider playing around with next time is garlic. I love garlic and think this sauce could handle one or two cloves.

The sauce recipe came from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison with a few minor modifications. The dip and other concoctions and toasted pita chips are my own.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
modified from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison
makes about 2 1/2 cups

3 red bell peppers
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, minced
3 Tablespoons chopped basil (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried)
1 teaspoon dried marjoram (or 1 Tablespoon fresh, chopped)
salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups vegetable broth or water
2 to 3 teaspoons white wine vinegar (optional)
1 Tablespoon butter (optional)

Roast peppers in an oven on broil. Watch closely and remove peppers when skin starts to look loose and parts have turned brown. Run peppers under cold water until cool enough to handle and peel the skin off. Then, coarsely chop the peppers.

Place the olive oil, onions and half the herbs in a medium skillet. Place the skillet on the stove and warm pan on med-high heat. When the oil is warm, add the peppers and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and cook until its syrupy (about 5 minutes), then add the tomatoes, tomato paste and broth. Simmer, covered. for 25 minutes.

Puree the sauce in a food processor (or blender).

This can all be done ahead. At least a few hours ahead of time, but I am guessing it's more like up to a few days ahead of time. I'll let you know as I use the leftovers this week.

The recipe then says: Season to taste with vinegar and butter. Reheat before serving and stir in the remaining herbs at the last minute. I forgot to do both of those steps! But I will try them next time :)

I set the sauce aside and went about making other dishes for dinner. Then about 30 minutes before the guests arrived, I put the sauce in a 6-inch round oven proof dish and placed slices of goat cheese on the top. I baked the sauce in the oven at 350F for about 20 minutes, until the cheese melted slightly and the sauce was bubbling.

In the meantime, I made pita chips. Cut each pita into approximately 8 wedges. Lightly brush them with olive oil and salt (this is optional). Bake in the oven at 350F for 3-4 minutes, then flip the pita chips and bake for another 3-4 minutes or until they are toasted and crunchy.

Scallion Ginger Soup

I came across this incredible broth recipe in the recent issue of Everyday Food and it reinforced my love for Martha Stewart!

Update: Made it again with diced chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, green onions and rice noodles = AWESOME! And took pictures :)

Scallion Ginger Broth
modified from Everyday Food, March 2010
makes 4 cups (2 servings for us)

1 teaspoon oil
4 scallions, white parts halves lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces, green parts thinly sliced for garnish
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into match sticks
1 garlic clove, cut into match sticks
4 cups broth (we used chicken, but you could easily use vegetable broth too)
1 Tablespoon fish sauce

Stir ins*
1 to 2 ounces rice noodles
1 Tablespoon oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 inch piece of ginger, minced
1 pound shrimp**
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 Tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add scallion whites, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until scallions begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Add broth and fish sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until flavors are blended, at least 5 minutes. Cook shrimp while broth is simmering.

In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium- high heat. Add shrimp, garlic and ginger and saute approximately 3 minutes, until the shrimp is nearly cooked through and has turned slightly pink. Add soy sauce and cook for 1 minute more, until soy sauce has reduce to a glaze. Remove pan from heat and add sesame oil and cilantro. Divide the shrimp mixture amongst the serving bowls and set aside.

Add rice noodles to the broth and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Ladle the soup into the bowls, on top of the shrimp mixture. Squeeze or drizzle lemon or lime juice into the bowl. Garnish with remaining scallions.

Notes:
*This broth was amazingly simple and fresh tasting with a nice bit of spice. You could all a whole myriad of stir ins during the simmering phase of cooking. Suggestions (from both Everyday Food and myself) include: carrots, mushrooms, tofu, thinly sliced beef or pork, shredded chicken, udon noodles, bean sprouts, broccoli. The list could really go on and on!

**We cooked a whole pound of shrimp because that was the size of our defrosting package. You could get away with 1/2 pound for 2 people, or double the broth and serve 4.