It's Fall, Y'all!--Pumpkin Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Happy Fall, Y'all!

I honestly don't know if I have ever been so excited to see fall in my entire life! This has been an unusually hot summer, even for Georgia, and I'm definitely ready for cool (not cold) weather.

Just today, I wore a light scarf, jeans, and boots...and it was still in the mid 80's today. But I can't help it--I've caught fall fever!

Tomorrow morning my church is having a ladies' event called "Taste of the Forest," (since we're Pine Forest Baptist Church--cute, right?) where you bring a food item to share plus the recipe to go in a church-wide cookbook. Well, I don't have many "original" recipes...but I'm pretty good at following them. :)

I've gone with a variation of Paula Deen's, "Ooey Gooey Butter Cake." It's PUMPKIN! I absolutely adore spiced, pumpkin-flavored anything, and I figured what better way to celebrate the beginning of my favorite season? :)

What you'll need...

1 (18 1/4 oz.) box yellow cake mix
1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin
4 eggs
1 (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese
2 sticks of butter
1 (16 oz.) box of powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
**(I use additional cinnamon to taste, along with some all spice, ginger, and cloves because I like pumpkin good and spiced. You can also just use pumpkin pie spice if you like a spices on the mild side.)

Cake:

cake mix

1 egg

1 stick of butter, melted

In large bowl, combine the entire package of cake mix, 1 egg, and one stick of butter melted and beat with electric hand mixer until well-blended. Pat mixture into a lightly greased 13 x 9 baking dish/pan.

Filling:

cream cheese

pumpkin

3 eggs

1 stick of butter, melted

vanilla extract

powdered sugar

spices

In a large bowl, beat pumpkin and cream cheese until smooth with an electric hand mixer. Beat in eggs, butter, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and spices and mix well. Spread evenly over cake mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once the temperature is reached, bake 40 to 50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook...the center should still be "gooey."

Finished "Pumpkin Ooey Gooey Butter Cake"

Don't ya like how a the left corner is gone?! haha. I had never made it, so I had to make sure it was tasty enough to 1.) take to "Taste of the Forest" and have put in a cookbook and 2.) share with y'all!

Verdict: Tasty, DELICIOUS, SCRUMPTIOUS!

I've always liked pumpkin pie, and this "takes the cake" over that any day! However, as you can see from the entire box of powdered sugar and 2 sticks of butter, it won't exactly shrink your waste line. But it's all good; we Southern folk' can handle a little extra butter now and then. ;)

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend of fall fun! Until next time!