Celebrating the Season: A Taste Test in Tradition

 I like traditions. I eat a lot. And that's what the holidays are all about. Each place has their own distinct traditions, thus I was thoroughly excited when I moved to St. Louis and discovered the gooey butter cake. I was instantly hooked, especially as the season grew colder and I discovered the joy of eating it with a giant, hot cup of coffee. Anything that contains as a rule at least one pound of powdered sugar goes hand in hand with snow, Christmas trees and holiday cheer if you ask me. I had to know more, meaning I had to eat more.

 After dabbling in a slew of yellow cake mix box creations that were scrumptious but too similar for my taste, I read into the subject to find out what exactly had caused this offbeat dessert to become standard St. Louis fare. The legend of gooey butter cake goes that it was originally made by trained German bakers in the 1930's, albeit by mistake when one said baker misunderstood the proportions of a coffee cake. It is meant to have a thin crust surrounding a thick layer of goo made of cream cheese, eggs, confectioners' sugar and, of course, butter.

Today there are many bakeries that continue to serve these sweet treats via time-honored recipes, though in Lake Saint Louis you're more likely to come across the mass-produced versions in grocery stores such as and . I conducted a taste test to see which of the two made better gooey butter cake, and along the way unearthed a true treasure called Heaven Scent Bakery that sells what could very well be the best gooey butter cake ever. Or at least that I've tried so far.

The Walmart variety was nearly unrecognizable. Cut into smaller portion sizes, it seemed like a good amount for 2-4 people.  But would you be able to bring it to a party this holiday season? Another hindrance; there wasn't a single speck of powdered sugar anywhere on top. I thought that was part of the point. It was a Paula Deen brand (who, by the way, is southern, not mid-western), that had the word 'original' in the title, which made me wary before even tasting it. It was in fact nothing but a morose, dense little crust topped by a slightly thicker layer of not-so-gooey goo. My tasting cohort mistook it for an exceptionally lackluster cheesecake. The top was too flaky and dry from the lack of powdered sugar and although it cost $3.13 I felt it was worth less.

Schnucks fared much better. For $4.79 you get a nice 10 inch cake. It came complete with powdered sugar and was significantly gooier than the aforementioned monstrosity. It was on par with what I had tasted so far and definitely not a bad value.

At last I discovered what I had been truly looking for all along, and it was surprisingly easy to find.  Heaven Scent Bakery deserves it's name. Though it may not be fair to contrast it to the previous (everyone knows scratch-made is better), their gooey butter cake was absolutely astounding compared to the rest.  Not only that, it's on your way home in neighboring O'Fallon, sitting right off highway 64 on Bryan Rd. at exit 216. The crust was flaky and golden brown in true gooey butter form, a testament to any definition of pastry in existence. It hugged the one inch layer of delectable filling, and the whole thing was liberally covered in snowy white confectioners' sugar. I whistled holiday tunes as I warmed it up in the oven; it was that inspiring. Shockingly light and dense all at once, I found myself taking bite after bite attempting to savor the textures that disappeared and lingered intermittently. This cake will cost you $6.24 and is worth every penny.

As you enjoy the holidays this year, allow food to play a role in the excitement of it all, especially in the form of an indulgent dish as rich as its history. Stick to tradition, and leave the rest for the birds.