Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Yesterday I tested a new recipe to try for Thanksgiving dessert. My mom's pumpkin pie was legendary, and although I have her recipe, I thought it would be too painful to make it this Thanksgiving. To make things easier, I'm going to try a few new dishes this year. So when my friend Connie shared this recipe for Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake, I thought I'd give it a go.

Turns out it is a Paula Deen recipe. Paula is a southern cook who has programs on The Food Network. Her recipes do not skimp on the butter, cream, or sugar!

When making the Pumpkin Gooey Cake (now called PGC by my friends Connie and Sharon), I had a few helpers: Tinsel, Lily, and a Diet Coke. :-)

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

· 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix

· 1 egg

· 8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

· 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

· 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

· 3 eggs

· 1 teaspoon vanilla

· 8 tablespoons butter, melted

· 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

· 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

· 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.

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

· Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Variations: For a Pineapple Gooey Cake: Instead of the pumpkin, add a drained 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

For a Banana Gooey Cake: Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.

For a Peanut Butter Gooey Cake: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter to the cream cheese filling instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.

*****

If you've followed my culinary (mis)adventures, you know that I need EASY recipes, and this one is! Here are a some tips: Be sure to buy canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling which would be way too sweet. Second, do not overbake it. I should have taken it out of the oven at 50 minutes (as indicated in the recipe), but I gave it another 5 minutes and the bottom crust got just a tiny bit too brown. It will be wobbly in the center when you take it out of the oven, but I guess that is why it is called GOOEY! Also, this cake will NOT cut nicely unless you chill it, and even then it doesn't cut smoothly, again due to the gooey, custardy texture. And it tastes GREAT with whipped cream! But caution...you should only eat a tiny piece at a time. It is VERY rich.

Don't take my word for it: Click on the link above to go to Paula's website and read some of the 2,000+ reviews for this recipe. It's a fabulously easy dessert, and it even passed the test at our house, so I'll be baking this for Thanksgiving. If you try it, let me know!