Classic St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake vs Gypsy Tart

Both desserts rely on butter, but they put it to very different work. The gooey butter cake uses melted butter twice, binding a pressed flour-and-sugar base and enriching a topping of cream cheese, eggs, vanilla and powdered sugar that bakes to golden edges and a set yet slightly gooey center. The Gypsy Tart rubs cold butter into flour for a blind-baked pastry case, then fills it with evaporated milk and dark brown sugar whisked until thick, fluffy and coffee-coloured. One offers creamy, vanilla-scented richness; the other a light, slightly tacky filling with deep brown-sugar sweetness.