From the Foodie series.

I grew up with "butter cake" as something I came to recognize as something very sinful and heavenly all at once. It's something I always identified as a "local" Philly staple, but even within the city it's not always easy to find, especially if you're looking for the oozing sweet and gooey version that I recognize as "authentic".

I am grateful to live near Stock's Bakery, in Port Richmond area of Philadelphia. They seemed to have always had this humble, honest version of butter cake, sold in shallow tinfoil trays. In fact, after searching for some of the history of this cake, I found it might have originated in St Louis, around 1930. It's often referred to as the "Ooey Gooey Butter Cake" there, and wikipedia mentions a version of it is often found in German-style bakeries throughout the Philadelphia area, where it's simply known as "butter cake". Stocks Bakery was founded in 1925, shortly before the cake's apparent accidental invention (reversing flour - butter ratio).

Origin: Philadelphia, PA

Availability: sold