Cheers to Happy: Gooey Butter Cake.....

A few years back some of my family formed the Thunder Mountain Gang...We would go to Idaho and stay in my cabin, with the pretense of attending the Cowboy Poetry Gathering...we did attend of course, but mostly we played, we laughed, we sang, we shopped, we played dress-up, told stories until all hours of the night, we sat on the porch and watched the sun come up over the mountain and we ATE! Oh my we ate some of the best meals of my life! This cake would have been the biggest breakfast hit, to enjoy on the deck, in our pajamas, with fresh hot coffee and smelling the sage in the soft mountain air.......ahhhh take me back to my boots and saddle....

Gooey Butter Cake

This is not a new recipe...apparently it has been made for many years in the south...I just saw it on-line. I think on Paula Dean's web site and then I googled it and presto! There is a million different recipes for it...This one seems to be the one that is most basic of them...so it is the one that I tried...In the south it is eaten for breakfast and is sold in many restaurants...I can see why...it is absolutely delicious and so easy too! You all may have been making it for many years...but it has not been made in my family, someone surely would have brought it to family reunion, right?.....

Ingredients:

Crust
1 package plain yellow cake mix
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
Filling
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 box, 16 ounces confectioner’s sugar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare crust first. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, egg, and melted butter with a wooden spoon until moist. Transfer to a 13″x9″ ungreased baking pan, and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Next, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter, and continue to mix. Next, add the confectioners sugar one cup at a time until all sugar is mixed in. Pour filling over the crust, and spread evenly with a spatula.

Bake gooey butter cake for 40-45 minutes until it is browned, but the center is still jiggles when the pan is shook. Cool for 30 min. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar...