Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Tonight was our turn to host Home Team at our house. We have been a part of this small group for over 4 years. It's so wonderful to have close Christian friends who are in the same phase of life. We spent a long time tonight talking about parenting - it was GREAT!

We had good food, good fellowship and good fun!

Here's the recipe for the dessert I made. It's Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. I'm not a fan of pumpkin in general and I LOVE this!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes

Cake:

• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 1 stick butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

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 Cool Whip.

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.