Pumpkin Spice Gooey Butter Cake

Apparently I'm the last person invited to the Gooey Butter Cake party.  Everyone on the entire internet seems to know about Gooey Butter Cakes but moi.  Thank you, Pinterest for giving me my pass into the cool kids group.

Yes, I once again found my inspiration on Pinterest.  Someone posted a mouth watering picture that led me to the recipe for Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake which I incorrectly assumed was her invention.  Well just because it has butter in it and it's called dessert, doesn't mean Paula invented it.  Seems Gooey Butter Cake originated in St. Lous where the cake was supposedly first made by accident in the 1930's by an area German American baker who was trying to make regular cake batter but reversed the proportions of sugar and flour.

Paula's recipe called for a boxed yellow cake mix, which I didn't have on hand, BUT I did have a boxed spice cake mix (which I usually have on hand in the fall to make this recipe) so I decided to try to make a pumpkin version of the Gooey Butter Cake.  This just officially took the place of pumpkin pie at my Thanksgiving table for the sole reason of the "crust".  I'm not a huge pie crust fan.  Just too bland for me.  The spice cake mixed with a stick of melted butter and one egg is pressed into the bottom of the pan and forms an incredible tasty crust for the pumpkin topping.

There are hundreds of versions for Gooey Butter Cake out there and I can't wait to try to make one from scratch using this recipe, but I also found a Nutella version that I know hubs will die over.

Here's what I did:

Pumpkin Spice Gooey Butter Cake

Crust:

1 box Spice Cake Mix

8 tablespoons of butter, melted

1 egg

Mix ingredients together until it forms into a dough like consistency and press into a greased 13x9 glass baking dish.

Topping:

8 oz package cream cheese

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie mix)

2 eggs

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

In mixer fitted with paddle attachment combine cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time until well combined.  Add vanilla and spices and then add the powdered sugar one cup at a time.  Spread topping over the crust and bake 40-50 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Let cool on rack for at least an hour.