I grew up in St. Louis, and we are proud to be the home of the legendary Gooey Butter Cake! The legend goes like this: The first cake was made sometime in the 1930s, the result of an accident by a careless baker named John Hoffman who worked at St. Louis Pastries Bakery in the south side of the city. He mistakenly reversed the proportions of butter and flour in his cake batter, with way more butter than flour in the recipe, the cake was a buttery blob that spread out all over the pan! He refused to throw it away and named it Gooey Butter Cake, what a delicious accident! There are many variations to this "accident", here, I have given you the basic recipe and added a layer of apple compote for the fall season, the apples go between the crust and the topping. It's important not to overbake the cake, or you won't have the "gooey" part that we love so much! I know you'll love this as much as we do!