Chess Cake recipe

I was a child when I first tastedΒ Chess Cake at a church decoration or other such get-together. Granny never made theΒ cakeΒ that I can remember, but it was almost always in the dessert section of any potluck type meal I ate at and I always made sure to get a square…or two.

Once I was married with two little ones Chess Cake became my go to dessert to make and take. It’s easy and quick to fix; I usually have all the ingredients on hand; it travels well; and everyone loves it.

Chess Cake

  • 1 box yellow or white cake mix
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup butter – Β melted
  • 1 pack of cream cheese – softened (8 oz.)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 box of powdered sugar (16 oz.)

Old fashioned chess cake

Combine cake mix, 1 egg, and melted butter. Pat mixture into a 13 x 9 ungreased baking pan.

Mix cream cheese, 3 eggs, and sugar thoroughly and pour over unbaked cake layer.

Bake at 350Β° for 45 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool and then cut into squares.

Southern chess cake recipe

Chess Cake is still my favorite dessert to make and take and it will always bring back fond memories of my church buddies and I running to the dessert table to see who could get a square first. Have you ever tried it?

Tipper

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59 Comments

  1. Hi Tipper!! My boyfriend and I watch you constantly, love the current Christmas stories and watching you decorate your home. Wanted to share that I currently have chess cake in the oven for the 1st time ever and it smells SO yummy!! I can’t wait to try it, I just know based on your recipe and the smell alone that it’ll be glorious!

  2. Tipper, thanks for sharing all your good memories. My husband and I are having lots of fond memories we share with each other while watching your You Tube channel. (we put you on hold to talk about our old people and how we grew up).

  3. Hello Tipper,

    Thank you for all of the great recipes. I especially appreciate the recipes for church and pot lucks. Our church has a meal every Sunday. I want to make the chess cake the day before to take for our Sunday meal. Do I need to refrigerate over night?

    thanks so much
    Kristina

  4. I can’t wait to try this. We have always had Chess Pie or Buttermilk Pie but this Chess Cake sounds too good to be true! I just wanted to say I’ve enjoyed watching your channel and my first attempt at biscuits wasn’t good! They were flat as a flitter. I think my SR flour was old, so I’ve got a fresh bag now so I’m determined to make my husband those fluffy homemade biscuits, because biscuits and gravy is his very favorite food! Thanks so much.

  5. I tried this last year for Friendsgiving at work. everyone lived it. experimented putting in semi-sweet chocolate chips, because everything g tastes better with chocolate. my brother is now hooked. I thought, better put some effort in and try something new for this year, but I got requests for the Chess Cake, so gonna don’t again with the chips in and see what the response is. Thanks so much for sharing the easiest recipe on the planet. it’s so easy I feel like I’m cheating.

  6. Set out the cream cheese to get to room temp just now. Lost Daddy in 2008 & Momma in 2017 … on tomorrow’s date. Momma would make chess pie for Daddy, but we also loved to buy one near Berea in Danville when we visited β€œdown home” in Lancaster, KY. For some reason this summer my husband and I watch you all on YouTube almost daily. I now make your cream biscuit recipe often. I hope we love this cake bar recipe as much too! You sound and even take after Momma’s sister a bit. My grandma used words like β€œkindly” (silent d, long i ) to say β€˜kind of’. My family says Appalachian different from y’all, but my family is from the other side of the mountains too. We’ve now lost my husband’s parents and find ourselves comforted by immersing ourselves in the culture, the gardening, the mountain flora, etc. that my Daddy shared with us all so often. Thank you for providing unexpected comfort and familiarity to both of us. This is my first visit to your blog.

      1. I’m new to your Channel and I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I might be a little obsessed!! Mostly about the food β™₯️ Your Chess Cake reminds of an Ooey Gooey Butter Cake that originated in St. Louis! So deliciously warm, ooey, gooey and isgood by itself or with a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream. Yummy

  7. Ms Tipper, Thank you for posting this recipe. On a whim I made it for a work pot luck. Have never made a new recipe to share at a pot luck but I followed the directions completely and it was a hit! Took home an empty cake pan! Making it again tonight, because I want to. Will keep this one as a brainless crowd pleasers for future cooking. I know my grandmothers would be proud of this recipe. All the best from Newport News, Va!

  8. hi tipper!
    i made this about 6 weeks ago, it was very good! i made it again today with some variation. i used a butter pecan cake mix & sprinkled chopped pecans on top the cream cheese mixture. turned out good! i like both of them. thank you!

  9. I LOVE your website..!! I have to many wonderful memories of “Homecoming” at our church..!! Thank you for this recipe…!!! I am going to make it exactly the way you do the first time and then the second time, I am going to add a little toasted coconut to it just to see how that tastes, too..!! God Bless YOU..!!

  10. Made this twice and it was delicious! Got one baking using a chocolate cake. It smells amazing! I’m going to sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips on after it comes out! Thanks for sharing this recipe!

  11. How can I make this without using egg whites? Yolks are ok but we are allergic to whites.

  12. This sounds amazing and I can’t wait to give it a go and take some time my 83 year old Mother-in-law. She will love it! Yeah!

  13. I made this recipe this morning, to take to my mother’s memory care home. Every Sunday a few of us “kids” bring our moms food from the outside and we all share a few hours enjoying this “family” that we’ve cobbled together. It was VERY well received. Thanks so much for sharing this easy recipe. And yes, it is very reminiscent of the Gooey Butter Cake I was introduced to in St. Louis. I’d be shocked if it’s not the same. Absolutely decadent, too!

  14. I’ve had gooey butter cake.Anyone with the recipe please.
    Also bakery butter cake,has gooey top never
    becomes hard.

    1. Paula Deen started a YouTube series called Quarantine Cooking when the pandemic hit, and she continues the series now with the title Love and Best Dishes. One of the recipes she made is Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. Haven’t made it myself but apparently it’s a winner. I’ll be trying Tipper’s Chess Cake recipe for sure though!

  15. My Granny used to make this! I never knew what she called it or how she made it. Nobody had the recipe after she passed. Thank you so much!

    1. I made this yesterday ! Let me tell you, it was a hit! I made from scratch cuz I’m celiac and eat gluten free and it was amazing! I am a Southern California gal born and raised but love and respect the Appalachian people and culture. My mom is Texan but I love the great people across our great nation that make us a truly unique and amazing country. I’ll be trying more of your delicious recipes. God bless yo you and yours. Michelle

      1. I’m a Texan, and we call this Nieman-Marcus cake here! And I believe it is similar to what Paula Deen calls Gooey Butter Cake.

        1. Why not use a GF Cake mix? That’s what I’d do but unfortunately, I’m also dairy free.
          Very sad because this recipe sounds delish!

  16. Im wondering if anyone has tried using strawberry or lemon cake mix as the base? Im gonna see how it goes!

  17. This looks yummy! Would you share the name of the cookbook you referenced once again please? I love local church/organization cookbooks and can find them through my local library once in awhile. Thanks so much, Lori

    1. Lori-the name of the cookbook is Martins Creek School. It’s been about 20 years since they published it for a fundraising event so I’m not sure you can still find it πŸ™‚

  18. When my Granny worked at Levi’s years & years ago, she got this recipe from a lady named Ida Jacobs. To this day we still call it “Ida Jacobs cake”. πŸ™‚ The top batter is easy to dress up. I add a can of pumpkin to it sometimes or just chocolate chips. My cousin makes the bottom batter with a red velvet or chocolate cake mix at times. Any way you fix it, it always turns out good.

  19. It looks like what we call Chess Pie. I wonder if they’re the same thing.
    Never had any, but am going to have to look for a diabetic version cause you had me sold at “cream cheese”. I love it and put it in so many things, especially cream soups and potato dishes, for extra richness.
    God bless.
    RB
    <><

  20. I don’t know how much easier this could be….Unless one just walked into the bakery and bought one… ha
    I guess the Chess Cake name came from the same as the Chess Pie? Problem, I am not sure how the Chess Pie got it’s name for certain either…do you know? I vaguely remember something about a Chess Pie being named from storage in a pie chest or pie safe? The pieces do not look anything like Chess pieces…However, I have a device (vintage metal rings) that when cake batter is poured into them and baked and then put together, the cake looks like a checkerboard when sliced! Ah-ha!
    I would love to know for sure the origin of the name Chess Cake and Chess Pie….when you find it let me know!
    In the meantime, I think I will make a Chess Cake….and store it in the husband’s and my belly! ha
    Now then, “Belly Cake” I could understand that name!
    My Mom used to make a cake/bar recipe we kids called “Belly-ache Cake”! It was full of coconut, dates, nuts. It was very rich and we were not used to eating such and it always caused a belly-ache! Hence, the nickname of the cake! We learned only to eat the small piece given us and not to slip into the cake tin for more! ha
    Thanks Tipper,
    PS…..What is that I hear, a giggle, from the Casada boys…tsk, tsk, ts

    1. The bellyache probably came from inadequate mastication. We make a hardcore nut fruit loaf that needs a lot; found out the hard way.

  21. Tipper,
    I’ve never tried the homeade kind like you share, but I love cheesecake. I cheat and buy the storebought kind and use the pouch of cherries on top. Anyway, I buy those Graham Cracker Crusts by Keebler already made, since I love Graham
    Crackers. Every once in a while, I use the Strawberry pouch as a topping.
    I always wondered why they call it “cake”, seems more like a pie to me…Ken

  22. I used to work for a bunch of women (I was the supervisor). They all liked to cook and bring the results to work. Since I had to try to be fair and unbiased, I had to sample everything. I had to force myself to like it and tell them how much πŸ˜‰ I think I ate chess cake many times without knowing the name. I thought it was good but never really got to enjoy it knowing I had to eat 12 to 15 other dishes before the party was over.
    Your recipe looks simple enough. I’ve a mind to give it a try but right now I don’t have the cream cheese or enough eggs.

  23. This is soooo good–especially the edge pieces. There must be a lot of variations on it. My sister-in-law makes it with pineapple and it is good too but I like the original best. We’ve still got a little snow here in Middle Tn. and cold!
    I found a site I am just loving–Appalachian Bear Rescue. They get the little abandoned or orphaned black bear cubs & treat & release in spring. This yr was a bad one–the babies are way underweight. The last one they got, Snowflake Bear, just weighed 8 and a half pounds when she should have weighted over 50. Check it out if you have time, they are so cute and such a great effort!

  24. This is new to me, but sounds like a keeper. Will try, as it is always nice to have a “go to” when you quickly need something to bring. Many occasions around here to bring a “sweet” and something not chocolate as chocolate is usually over done.

  25. I have made a chess pie, but never heard of the cake. I will be making this for our next bake sale! As always, thank you for all you do πŸ™‚

  26. I have never made Chess Cake. That sounds so much easier than the recipe I use to make Chess Pie. How many calories per serving? Never mind. If you tell me I will never make it.

  27. Yes, I’ve eaten that and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve never made it though and had no idea it was so simple.

  28. I made one yesterday before I read your post. Super easy. I tried a slightly different recipe that I found. After you pat the crust down, sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans on it followed by 1 cup coconut. Then, pour the filling on. Yummy!

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