How do I get the flaky top on ooey gooey butter bars?
I'm making Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Butter Bars (also known as Ooey Gooey Butter Cake) for holiday goodie baskets. I'm having trouble getting the top to be flaky like it is on the bars sold at the store - the same kind of flaky top that's on brownies.
I'm guessing I'm either not mixing something long enough or mixing it too long or something. I've seen pictures of the process online and my top batter looks EXACTLY like the batter in the picture, but something is going wrong. In my eight tries, it's only turned out right twice. I can tell when it's going wrong during the baking process, because the top fluffs up and the crust never forms.
For the unfamiliar, this is a bar with a cake mix-butter-one egg crust on the bottom. The topping is a block of softened cream cheese, one stick of melted butter, two eggs, vanilla and two cups of powdered sugar.
Could it be the quality of the ingredients? I've used no-name butter sometimes and other times Land O'Lakes. Help!
Best Answer
With the recipe you mentioned there is no indication as to what temperature the cream cheese and butter should be at and I'm guessing that's one possible item making the difference. Since it looks a little like a creaming or foaming (sponge) method for whipping ingredients, I'd try to make sure my butter, eggs, and cream cheese, but especially butter, were around 70 degrees F. You want them to be able to incorporate air. The first link talks about how to get things crispier or fluffier based on how long you cream, etc. Then you will want to play around with batter temperature when it hits the oven.
Also note that more fat in a cookie recipe, at least, is equivalent to crispier. Are you subbing nuefchatel cheese or low fat or no fat cream cheese for the cream cheese? If so, don't. Moisture in sugar has an impact so make sure you aren't subbing any other sugar for powdered.
Real gooey butter cake is a yeast cake rather than the rip-off versions that use cake mix and not really all that much more complicated, although more time consuming. You may want to try doing a more authentic recipe, or at least one that uses a yeast cake. I have had success with the one linked.
Pictures about "How do I get the flaky top on ooey gooey butter bars?"
Do you refrigerate Ooey Gooey Bars?
Does gooey butter cake need to be refrigerated? Properly stored, freshly baked butter cake will last for about 1 to 2 days at normal room temperature. Refrigerate immediately any cake that contains frosting or filling made with dairy products or eggs, such as buttercream, whipped cream or custard frostings or fillings.How do you know when a butter cake is done?
Check for doneness at the minimum recommended baking time, then check every 2 minutes after that. Butter cakes are done when a toothpick inserted near the center of the cakes comes out clean.Can you freeze gooey butter cake?
I like to cut gooey butter cake into smaller bars and place them in a gallon freezer ziplock bag. This way, I can thaw just one piece at a time. You can also freeze the whole cake by covering the pan (as long as it's aluminum and not glass) in plastic wrap or tinfoil and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.How to Make St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake Bars
More answers regarding how do I get the flaky top on ooey gooey butter bars?
Answer 2
You can't really trust how batter looks. A small change in how much baking soda or baking powder goes in would totally change the outcome, but wouldn't affect the batter's appearance.
If you've made it right twice before, it sounds like your problem is consistency. Convert your recipe into one that uses weight instead of volume (grams/ounces instead of teaspoons/cups). 1 cup of flour, packed, can be way more flour than 1 cup of flour sifted--there's really no way to be precise when using volume measurements. I've spent time doing some Googling to convert a recipe from one that uses cups to one that uses grams, then measure out those quantities with a kitchen scale.
The other thing you may want to check is your oven temp. If you're using the built in oven thermostat, those can be extremely imprecise--I'd recommend buying an oven thermometer or borrowing one from a friend. They're typically less than 10 dollars and are very accurate. If it turns out that it's different from what temp your oven reports, trust the thermometer instead.
Answer 3
its' your sugar..it has to be 1 lb. Your'e only using 2 cups. Follow the instruction and you should end up with a flaky top.
Answer 4
The recipe should call for 4 cups of sugar. You are also over mixing the cream cheese eggs and powdered sugar mixture. I use this recipe it is not mine. https://southernbite.com/strawberry-chess-bars/?fbclid=IwAR04Px0Mg9RaXTuAajHmDg79v3YSCa5B6CTzZ-yYAKuH2DnfedN3sdxnIYk
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska, Monstera, Katerina Holmes