Part III - The Finale

Okay so it's a new week and Thanksgiving is past us.. I debated on whether to blog about this most excellent of all the Gooey Butter Cakes, because yanno what? I am sick of Thanksgiving. Yes, I've said it. I've given my thanks, I've cooked my heart out and now I want to for-get it. BUT this version of Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cakes is the best one of all - so good that just because it's pumpkin doesn't mean you can't (and shouldn't!) make it any time during the year. Cut into smaller bars, this would be perfect for your Christmas dinner as well - or even as part of your Christmas baking gifts. Paula said in her book to not be surprised if you never go back to a traditional pumpkin pie again after trying this cake. She's right. Again, I bring up my mother - who's stuffing was a staple at our Thanksgiving table for over 20 years.. until I made the Easy Stuffing. Now her stuffing is a thing of the past. Same with her pumpkin pies. She made beautiful pumpkin pies every year and there was rarely any left over after the first assault on leftovers. Until.. until I watched the lurve of my life, the reason my cholesterol is high, Paula Deen, make this cake on one of her shows. It was the first Gooey Butter cake that I'd ever made. And it is now the replacement of my Mom's pumpkin pies. Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Courtesy of Paula Deen 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow or butter cake mix 1 egg 8 tablespoons butter, melted (1 stick or 1/2 c.) Filling: 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 8 tablespoons butter, melted (1 stick or 1/2 c.) 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg Preheat oven to 350º 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.

Gooey Butter Cake - Version III - the Mystery Flavor

So Sunday I had to make something in case they did have room for desert (little did I know "they" weren't going to show). After the peanut butter fiasco, I was determined to try again. Only this time, I figured that I've made so many of Paula's Gooey Butter Cakes, that I could make up a flavor of my own with my knowledge of how she comes up with hers. Also, I still had a boatload of cream cheese in my fridge that I needed to get rid of. I had a few flavors of cake mix in my pantry and decided that banana would be an interesting base. Now for the filling.. do I go all Elvis on their asses and try another peanut butter filling (using a BRAND SPANKING NEW jar of peanut butter OF COURSE) with maybe marshmallow fluff swirled through? That did sound mighty tasty - but I was kinda afraid of peanut butter the next day.. so we'll try that one another time. So what else goes well with bananas? Chocolate of course!! A chocolate covered banana gooey butter cake! Ingenious! (Is that a word?) Now I had the flavors I wanted to try. But I've got the problem of that cream cheese layer being so damn thin.. I specifically recall all my pumpkin gooey cakes being light and fluffy.. not thin and so dense, dammit. My guess is that the pumpkin is what makes that variation so much more fluffy - although I couldn't tell you why I guess that. I have no good reason. Well I decided to up the cream cheese to two packages for this cake. I did end up getting a thicker layer (duh) but it wasn't as light as the pumpkin. Still.. a most excellent cake all in all. I'm very happy with the results and will make this variation again and again. Chocolate Covered Banana Gooey Butter Cake 1 pkg. banana cake mix 1 egg 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate 4 TBS. heavy cream 2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese 3 eggs 8 oz. confectioners' sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" x 2" baking pan (I always use a glass Pyrex dish) with butter. In a mixer, combine the cake mix, egg and butter until it forms a ball. Press this mixture into the bottom of your baking pan. Place the chocolate and heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl and zap it for 30 seconds, then stir to combine, zap again for 15 seconds and stir until it's all melty. In same mixer, beat the cream cheese until it's good and soft, add the eggs, chocolate and vanilla. Mix well. Slowly add the sugar until it's just combined. Pour over the cake layer and spread until it's even. Bake for 35 minutes. Original gooey butter cake recipe calls for 45-50 minutes, but 35 was just perfect for my oven. Cool before serving. Yum! My crap cam seems to be taking a crap on me (oh no!) I couldn't get a clear picture of this cake to save my life :( *Note: You might have noticed that I left out that 2nd stick of butter in the filling. I really don't think it's needed.

Paula's Gooey Butter Cakes - Variation II

On Saturday I made another variation of Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake.. the peanut butter and chocolate variation to be exact. I've made this variation before with wonderfully decadent results. Not so much this time. I over baked. Annddd.. I suspect my peanut butter had started to get that not so fresh taste to it. I didn't think it had been in my cupboard very long as we go through peanut butter quite quickly in this house, but my cake did taste a bit "stale". Also, something else I've noticed in the last 2 gooey cakes I've made.. the cream cheese layer was pretty damn thin. I don't recall the pumpkin gooey cake I make every year for Thanksgiving being so thin, but with the first variation, the lemon one I made a few weeks ago and now this peanut butter one.. thin. Thankfully, after everyone ate the ribs they were too full for desert, so Hubbs and I were the only ones (much later that night when we had no business eating anything sweet before passing out) that were subjected to the ickiness. That cake was thrown away the next morning. But here's a picture and the recipe, because it's an excellent recipe when you don't overbake it and use ka-ka'd peanut butter. :D Peanut Butter & Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake 1 devil's food cake mix 1 egg 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 3 eggs 1 c. creamy peanut butter 1 (16 oz.) box confectioners' sugar 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted 1 tsp. vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" x 2" baking pan (I always use a glass Pyrex dish) with butter. In a mixer, combine the cake mix, egg and butter until it forms a ball. Press this mixture into the bottom of your baking pan. In same mixer, beat the cream cheese until it's good and soft, add the eggs, peanut butter, butter and vanilla. Mix well. Slowly add the sugar until it's just combined. Pour over the cake layer and spread until it's even. Bake for 45-50 minutes. (I baked for 45 minutes and it was too done! So check after 35 minutes!) Your cake should look "done" around the sides only and the middle should look, well.. gooey. :D Cool for a few hours before serving.

Lemon Gooey Butter Bars

My mom has been hinting around that she'd like me to bake her something.. and well I didn't want to give her the Mexican Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies because, unfortunately, they weren't so hot the day after. They are the kind of cookies that are so YUM! the day you make them.. but they kinda lose their umph the next day in both flavor and texture. I ended up freezing a 1/2 doz. to let Hubbs try when he gets home and then ditchin' the rest of them :( One of my mom's favorite flavors is lemon.. so I started thinking about what to make. I had so many wonderful choices, both in my books and on my favorite blogs.. finally I decided to go with the Queen of ButterMayoCreamCheesedom, Ms. Paula Deen. Bless her cotton socks. I make her Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake for Thanksgiving every year as no one wants pumpkin pie anymore after trying it, hehee. I remembered she had a lemon variety so I looked in her "The Lady & Sons, Just Desserts" book and the recipe was there. If you've had her Gooey Butter Cakes you know how rich they are. I thought maybe the lemon would cut that richness a bit, but it does not. So I cut them into smaller bars. And I was feelin' a lil "saucy" so I got a little fancy and made myself a small batch of ganache and took advantage of strawberry season by making a coulis and some mashed strawberries for a lil added punch. Lemon Gooey Butter Cake courtesy of Paula Deen For the Cake: 1 (18.25 oz.) box of lemon cake mix 1 egg 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted For the Filling: 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened (I used mascarpone) 2 eggs 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1 (16 oz.) box confectioners' sugar 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted 2 lemons, zested and juiced, you should get approx. 1/4 c. juice Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar, lemon zest and juice and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well. Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. "Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake past that point!" Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares, serve plain or with a dollop of whipped cream.