Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Several people mentioned this cake on SL a while back as an option to use canned pumpkin. Since I discovered how easy it is to make my own pumpkin puree', I tucked it away as a good option. It sounded kind of like dump cake, only with pumpkin, instead of pie filling.

Wouldn't you know, though, there were no yellow cake mixes to be found in-country. Cake mixes are available at every little corner grocery here (and every corner has at least one grocery), but all of the sudden, none of them had yellow cake mix. Every other flavor under the sun. But no yellow.

I'd looked at all of the big grocery stores in the capital, even, as I happened to be in them over the course of a couple of months. About a week ago, I stopped at a slightly-larger-than-small grocery store to pick up a lunch option for the kids on my way home from a friends' house. Guess what they had? Yellow cake mix, of course. In our city. In a little grocery store.

And I happened to have a pumpkin that needed baking and pureeing. And friends coming over for a Numb3rs-watching evening. What a perfect combination of circumstances!

The cake was a hit, to understate the reaction. It is delicious, and I will definitely be making it again.

(And don't anyone dare plug this into any kind of nutritional calculator. Or, if you do, I do not want to know. I'll stick my fingers in my ears. I will. It's a dessert. It's a treat. I don't want to know.)

Cake:
• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 tablespoons butter (2 sticks), melted

Filling:
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin (1 3/4 C)
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 tablespoons butter (2 sticks), melted
• 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar (2 C)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer.
3. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
4. To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth.
5. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together.
6. Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well.
7. 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.)
8. 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.