French Vanilla Gooey Butter Cake with Strawberries
A doctored-up cake mix gets the royal treatment with some fresh berries and jam, along with the luxurious sweetness of vanilla bean paste. You can easily sub in vanilla extract if you can’t find the paste. It will still be absolutely wonderful. Â
- Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- One 13 to 14-ounce box French Vanilla cake mix
- 2 sticks butter (one cup), melted and divided
- 3 eggs, divided
- 8-ounce package full-fat cream cheese, softened or at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- 1.5 cups confectioner’s sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 cup strawberry jam
- 2 cups sliced, fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust the rack to the middle position. Butter a 9-inch cake pan or spring-form pan (can be round or square).
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, one of the eggs, and one stick of melted butter. Stir until well-mixed and press this mixture into the bottom of the pan and up the sides a bit.Â
- Beat the cream cheese until soft and add the two remaining eggs, the last stick of melted butter, the vanilla bean paste, and the 1.5 cups confectioner’s sugar. Whip just until smooth.Â
- Swirl in the jam and fold in about a cup of the berries. Pour this into the pan, on top of the French Vanilla crust. Bake until just set in the center; about 50 to 55 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown before the middle is set, simply lay a sheet of foil over top. This will slow the browning significantly.Â
- Allow the cake to cool before slicing. Cover with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar and serve with extra sliced berries, if desired.Â