Butter Cake ~ California Pizza Kitchen

The classic cake seems to have made it's return, mainstream this time with the good folks at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) giving it a try.  You may recall I wrote pretty extensively about the two major variations on Classic Butter Cake in 2011. The two versions being 1) a more cheesecake-like texture and 2) a more yellow-cake like texture which I use as a birthday cake. So when I saw it on the menu at CPK I decided I had to give it a try.

California Pizza Kitchen's Classic Butter Cake

As the dessert served by CPK without the optional Haagen-Dazs icecream tops 1,000 calories, you may want to share as I did, and skip the optional ice cream.  It does not need it. But it was worth the caloric load. CPK butter cake presents in the menu photos and at first sight much like classic St. Louis or Philadelphia gooey butter cake for the 1930's - 1960's. I think you'll agree that in the photo above it looks rather cheesecake like upon arrival at our table.

But when you cut into it you find it has a more cake-like texture as shown in the photo above.  And here's the great thing... it's in-between the gooey and the cake version. While it may look cake-like in this photo, you'll find when you taste it that it is warm and extremely moist. Toward the center-bottom it boarders on gooey. The flavor is classic too, with a strong sweet butter taste.

With a dip in the whipped cream, you'll find the dessert heavenly and worth the occasional indulgence. Because I cook and bake a lot, I'm frequently disappointed when I try similar items in restaurants. This is one case where I was pleasantly surprised. I will now try to make my butter cake more like this little bit of heaven from the good chefs at California Pizza Kitchen.  Next time you are in one of their restaurants, give it a try but remember to eat light before the dessert arrives!