Paula's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

We had a going-away party for two coworkers last week, and I volunteered (as usual) to bring dessert. It is, after all, the most important meal of the day. I'm sure the people who make that food pyramid thingy will come to realize this in time.

I decided to pick a new recipe, one that I hadn't tried before, and my cans of pumpkin were calling my name (and maybe gathering dust), so I chose Paula Deen's pumpkin gooey butter cake. My mom made this last year for T-day, and I only remembered that it was good, so I figured it would be a nice addition to the work spread.

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Recipe courtesy pauladeen.com

Ingredients & Directions:

Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Prepare Filling

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy

Oh gosh, was this good. I got somewhat cautious about the center not being done, because each time I jiggled the oven rack, it still looked watery, so I may have overcooked it just a bit. Instead of "gooey," the center was sort of just moist. But oh my word, the sugar. The pumpkin. The cream cheese.

Confession: I used a can of pumpkin pie mix, I think it was the only thing I had left, so I didn't add the spices - it may have been better or worse for this, but I really can't say until I make it again, hehe. Served this with two kinds of whipped cream, the CoolWhipfrozen stuff, and the CoolWhipbrand-in-a-can style, just for comparison. I'm sure you know which turned out better - coolwhipinacan lost miserably to the favorite of pumpkin pie aficionados the world over. Didn't stop me from trying both. And squirting the canned version directly into my mouth (after everyone else was done, of course).

Sorry for the bad picture, I was in a hurry again and didn't get to take a pic with my real camera! This was almost the last piece of the cake, it went fast:



Verdict: