The traditional gooey butter cake has been around since the 1930s. The simplest recipes include a box of cake mix along with butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and eggs. Put these ingredients together and you get a dense cake layer topped with a custard-y, gooey sweet cream cheese layer. Many of us have eaten gooey cakes at family gatherings, church potlucks, or as an indulgent weekend treat. As much as I love a traditional gooey cake, I put an almond twist on this popular dessert adding layers of almond flavoring with a thin crusty almond topping. Let’s check it out!
Ingredients for Gooey Butter Cake with an Almond Twist
I’ve kept this recipe simple with almond flavors throughout. For the ingredients, you’ll need a box of yellow cake mix, butter, eggs, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, along with sliced almonds for the crunchy topping.
Preheat Oven & Prepare Pan
Begin by preheating the oven to 350˚F (177˚C). Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper. You can eliminate the paper and just grease the pan.
TIP: The parchment paper will allow you to easily lift the baked cake out of the pan and cut it into squares for serving. So, the paper sits flush with the pan, cut the corners of the paper down to where the paper meets the bottom of the pan and overlap the flaps.
Combine Cake Layer Ingredients
In a medium bowl add the contents of a box of yellow cake mix (~15 ounces), 113 grams (8 tablespoons or 1 stick) of softened butter, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and ½ teaspoon of almond extract. Stir until combined. The mixture will be stiff and crumbly.
TIP: You could mix the ingredients in a stand mixer.
Press Cake Layer in Pan
Press the crumbly mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. You may need to spray your fingers with a little cooking spray to keep the mixture from sticking. I also like to use a spatula to flatten and smooth out the top.
Combine Cream Cheese Custard Layer Ingredients
In the same medium bowl, add 226 grams (8 ounces) of softened cream cheese. Beat with an electric hand mixture until smooth. Add 2 large eggs and 1 teaspoon of almond extract. Beat again until smooth. Add 453 grams (4 cups or 1 pound) of powdered sugar and mix again until all combined. The mixture will be runny and resemble an egg custard.
Pour Custard Layer Over Cake Layer & Top with Almonds
Pour the cream cheese mixture over the cake layer. Smooth out the top with a spatula ensuring an even layer of custard coverage in the corners and along the edges. Scatter sliced almonds over the cream cheese layer. Add enough to cover the top so that an almond will be in each bite.
Bake the Gooey Butter Cake with an Almond Twist
Bake the cake for 40 minutes. The top should be golden brown to create a crust. The center will be jiggly but will firm as it cools.
Cool the Gooey Butter Cake Completely
Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 2-3 hours. It’s important to cool, so that the cream cheese custard layer firms enough to hold its shape when cut and served.
TIP: Wait to add the powdered sugar until the cake has cooled or the powdered sugar will melt if the cake is too warm.
Dust with Powdered Sugar, Slice, & Serve
Once cooled, dust the top with powdered sugar. If you lined the pan with parchment paper, you can lift the cake out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Then, slice the cake into individual serving bars or just leave the cake in the pan and cut slices as you want them.
TIP: You can get 12 large bars if you cut four rows down and three rows across.
Close Up of the Gooey Butter Cake with an Almond Twist
The almonds and powdered sugar on top add visual texture. Notice the crunchy top layer from the almonds and crispy custard. The cake is gooey, so it’s meant to be soft in the center. Once cooled the gooey layer doesn’t ooze off the cake. While the bottom cake layer is a bit dense, it holds up well to the soft, gooey center layer. It’s an easy, hand-held dessert for any gathering.
Storage Suggestions
You can store the bars covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. In a warm environment, it’s best to store the bars covered in the fridge for up to a week.
Add a Holiday Twist to this Gooey Butter Cake Recipe
This is such an indulgent, creamy, easy dessert to make for your family or any gathering. During the holidays, you can add 1 teaspoon of holiday spice like pumpkin pie, apple pie, gingerbread, or cinnamon to the cake layer for that extra holiday punch.
Final Thoughts of Gooey Butter Cake with an Almond Twist
For me, gooey butter cake harkens back to my childhood in the 80s. My mom made it many times for family and friend gatherings. I still enjoy traditional gooey cake, but it’s rare to eat it these days. After all, what’s not to like about cake and sweetened cream cheese? Since the recipe was so popular, I wanted to change it up and modernize it a bit. To me, adding almonds and flavoring simply added elegance, depth, and texture to an already good dessert. If you like gooey cake, consider giving this version a try. The almond flavoring adds a nice variation.
Baker’s Perspective
Traditional gooey cakes are pretty simple and standard. You can go as basic and easy as using a commercial cake mix or more complex by creating your own basic cake mix for the base. The gooey layer is a simple custard-like layer enhanced with cream cheese. The little almond twist includes layers of almond flavoring in the cake base, cream cheese custard layer, and a sliced almonds on top. Adding the almond additions are very simple and do not complicate the original recipe. This gooey cake recipe variation is as easy to make as a traditional version; you simple need to have almond extract and sliced almonds on hand.
Taster’s Perspective
On first bite, I’m reminded of my childhood. I love the crunchy layer on top from both the cream cheese crust and the almonds. The thinly sliced almonds create more of a thin crispy crust to the top rather than a thick crunch like what a thick almond chunk would provide. The thin top crust is perfect with the cream underneath and chewy cake. The cream cheese layer is not overly cheesy but very creamy. The eggs contribute to the light custard-y texture. The cake layer is a bit chewy instead of light and airy. The textures work well together (a crusty top, creamy center, and chewy bottom). I love the additional almond flavoring in layers. The almond extract and sliced almonds add a touch of elegance, depth, and additional texture to an already great dessert.
For additional visuals of this recipe, check out my YouTube video “Gooey Butter Cake with an Almond Twist: Rich and Creamy Elegance with a Crust”.
Gooey Butter Cake with an Almond Twist
Ingredients
Cake layer:
- 1 box (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix
- 113 g (8 tbsp / 1 stick) butter softened
- 1.5 g (¼ tsp) salt, if using UNSALTED butter no salt if using salted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp (.15 oz) vanilla extract
- ½ tsp (.08 oz) almond extract
Cream cheese layer:
- 226 g (8 oz) cream cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp (.16 oz) almond extract
- 453 g (4 cups /1 lb / 16 oz) powdered sugar plus more for dusting
- ½ cup (45 g) almond slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (177˚C). Grease or parchment line a 9-x13-inch baking dish.TIP: If using parchment paper, cut the corners down to where the paper meets the inside bottom of the pan. Overlap the flaps and trim as desired. The paper allows for easy cake remove once baked.
- In a medium bowl mix together cake mix, butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir until combined. The mixture will be stiff.TIP: You could mix the ingredients in a stand mixer.
- Press mixture evenly into the parchment-lined or greased baking dish.
- In the same medium bowl, add cream cheese and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Add eggs and almond extract. Beat again until the mixture is smooth. Then add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and then increase speed until mixture is smooth. It will be a thin, runny mixture.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture over the cake layer and smooth out the top. Scatter sliced almonds over the cream cheese layer to cover the cake evenly
- Bake the cake for 40 minutes. The edges and top should be golden brown and crusty.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool 2-3 hours. Once cooled, dust with powdered sugar and serve.TIPS: Wait to add the powdered sugar until the cake has cooled or the powdered sugar will melt if the cake is too warm. You can get 12 large bars if you cut four rows down and three rows across.
Video
Notes
You might be interested in these other sweet treats.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Microwavable Cake
5-Minute Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake (Microwavable)
Argentine Alfajores Sandwich Cookies
Czech Palačinky: Thin Sweet Pancakes
Australian & New Zealand Pavlova
Coconut Flan: Gluten Free & Dairy Free
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