12 days of bakemas: the recap

December 26, 2009 by Leave a Comment

For those of you who have been following me on my crazy baking adventure these past few weeks, thank you! I hope you found something to enjoy, something to grace your holiday table, something to scarf in the middle of the night in your pajamas while sitting on the kitchen counter.

With all of these stinkin end-of-the-year/end-of-the-decade countdown lists permeating the web this time of year, I thought I’d join in the fun.

Here is a recap of all 12 recipes, in ranking order of deliciousness (voted on by husband, myself, and various friends and family–you may have a different take).

Recipes, please don’t get me wrong. I love you all and you are each special in your own unique way. Some of you I just inhaled faster than others.

Drumroll, please…

1. Blue Cheese and Irish Cheddar Gougeres

Funny that the recipe that tops this list is a savory one. These little morsels were too good to resist. Husband and I literally ate the whole tray straight out of the oven. Plus, they were one of the easiest recipes to make.

2. Apple Cider Doughnuts

This recipe once again reminded me why I’m smitten with Smitten Kitchen. They were soft and chewy on the inside, the tiniest bit crisp on the outside, and full of delicate apple cider flavor. Also, they were much easier to make that I thought doughnuts would be.

3. Eggnog Cheesecake Bars

Lumpiness aside (my own dang fault), these things were killer. Crunchy crust, creamy eggnoggy filling–to die for.

4. Banana Tart Tartin

Jamie Oliver’s recipe didn’t dissapoint. This is the pinnacle of comfort food. Serve with a little vanilla ice cream and you’ll be in banana bliss.

5. Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

Hands down the easiest of all the recipes to make. Sounds weird, I know, but give it a shot. The sweet/savory combo might surprise you.

6. Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes

Miss Deen never fails me. This is the creamiest, most buttery alternative to pumpkin pie there is.

7. Chocolate Babka

Yes, it was a lot of dang work. Breads always are. But this one was particularly worth it: it’s like a gooey chocolate cinnamon roll inside.

8. Sweet Challah

Another time consuming recipe, but a good one. Sweet, gorgeous bread that goes with everything.

9. Lemon Wreaths

A lot of work for not very many cookies (leave it to Martha to make things complicated), but seriously delicious.

10. Mandarin Mulled Wine

Sugar and spice and everything nice. Plus a merry Christmas buzz.

11. Baked Apples with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Nutty, cinnamonny, appley–gone.

12. Loukoumades with Honey Orange Sauce

Labor intensive, and not the flavor I was expecting. Would be excellent with a few tweaks.

And there you have it, ladies and gentleman. My dishwasher, my oven, and my credit card are grateful it’s over and done with.

Me? I’m still going through a little sugar withdrawal. I may have eaten half a bag of Dove chocolates yesterday to make up for the lack of sweets hanging out in the fridge.

Until next year, this is the 12 Days of Bakemas, signing off. Back to normal blogging content, including some yummy savory recipes in the upcoming week.

-RDG

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day 12: mandarin mulled wine

December 24, 2009 by Leave a Comment

It’s the last day of Bakemas.

It’s also Christmas Eve.

What does that mean? I need a drink. And I’m darn tired of baking. So I’m giving my oven the day off and making a delicious beverage for y’all.

I’m always at a loss for what to serve at holiday parties. Regular ol’ beer and wine seem so blah. I detest eggnog (the real stuff…the store bought stuff sans alcohol I can drink by the gallon). Martinis don’t seem quite festive enough. Cider is good, but I always feel like liquor ruins the flavor of good apple cider.

But this year, I’ve come up with the perfect solution. And it involves cheap, cheap wine.

Need a last minute idea? Follow my lead, ladies and gents.

$5 a bottle? I’ll take it. Two of em. Double the recipe if you’ve got tons of folks, or if your family drinks wine like it’s going out of style. Mine does.

Please, please don’t waste good bottles of wine on this. Good wine was not meant to be cooked.

Rummage through your spice drawer and pull out a couple of cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, and a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and nutmeg.

Also grab some mandarin oranges. Or “satsumas.” Or “cuties.” Or, as my husband likes to call them, “crack.”

You’ll need about 5, plus more for garnish (I used a regular orange for garnish because they’re bigger, so snag some of those too if you’d like).

Finally, measure out 3/4 cup of sugar. I had some raw sugar that I wanted to use up, but granulated or baker’s sugar would work just fine too.

Pour the wine into a crock pot (or a saucepan, if you don’t have one or it’s otherwise engaged). Halve three of the oranges and juice them over the wine.

Add the sugar…

…and spice(s) and everything nice…and give it a good stir.

Slice up the remaining two oranges…

…and float them on top of the wine mixture. It adds nice flavor, plus it makes it purdy.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours (if you’re using a saucepan, cook covered over low heat for 4 hours).

Serve warm, garnished with a fresh orange slice if you’d like. I also threw a cinnamon stick on there to make it bee-youtiful, but it’s not very practical for sippin.

Neither is the wine glass, for that matter. A mug would be much better for a hot beverage. But practicality has never been my strong suit.

Mulled wine is to wine what apple cider is to apple juice.

Does that make any sense?

I’ve been baking for way too long. What I’m trying to say is that the wine tastes spiced like apple cider does. The cinnamon, nutmeg, and oranges all come together to give it a festive, holiday-spicy flava.

Your guests will totally dig this junk. It tastes like you put way more effort into it than you did.

Plus you can get away with serving Trader Joe’s two-buck-chuck at a party.

Well, I’m off for a few days to lick my baking wounds and enjoy Lucy’s first Christmas.

Everyone out there have a safe, lovely holiday. Bake lots, take photos and hug your kiddos like there’s no tomorrow.

And don’t drink too much mulled wine. It may be delicious but it’ll kick you in the pants the next day.

Happy 12th Day of Bakemas and a very happy holiday, whichever one(s) you celebrate!

-RDG

Mandarin Mulled Wine

  • 2 bottles (cheap) red wine
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 5-10 cloves
  • 5 mandarin oranges, plus more for garnish

Pour the wine into a slow cooker or saucepan. Stir in the sugar and spices. Juice three of the oranges and slice the remaining two. Stir in the juice and float the sliced oranges on top of the wine mixture.

Slow Cooker: Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours.

Stovetop: Cover and cook over low heat for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve warm. Garnish with orange wedges if desired.

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day 11: apple cider doughnuts

December 23, 2009 by 1 Comment

“C is for cider…

…that’s good enough for me.”

Sorry to rain on your parade, Cookie Monster, but C has a whole new word to represent. And these doughnuts were way more than good enough for me. They were simply amazing.

The recipe comes from one of my favorite bloggers, Smitten Kitchen. And if you’ve never visited, you must. Deb is an amazing NYC chef/photographer/bloggess who makes me drool with every post. Plus her kitchen is about the size of my broom closet. Plus she just had a baby.

So basically, she’s superwoman.

A few months back she posted this recipe for apple cider doughnuts, and it has been haunting me ever since. I knew that it had to be a part of the 12 Days of Bakemas. And oh boy, they did not disappoint.

You need these doughnuts in your life. Like right now. So let’s go.

First off, you’ll need a half stick of butter (room temperature, please), two eggs, some buttermilk (if you can find regular buttermilk that would be best–my piddly little grocery store only had reduced fat) and apple cider.

Also, from the pantry grab some granulated sugar, salt and all-purpose flour.

And to cap it all off, some cinnamon, nutmeg, a huge tub-o-shortening for frying, baking powder and baking soda.

Got all that? Perfect, dahling.

First we need to concentrate the apple cider. To do that, pour one cup in a saucepan and heat on medium or medium-low until it reduces to about 1/4 of a cup, or about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the dry stuff (3 1/2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg) in a bowl and give it a stir.

Next, cream the butter with 1 cup of sugar until it’s light and smooth. Then add the eggs one at a time, making sure they’re totally incorporated.

How’s your cider doing? Looks good to me. If it has reduced enough, remove it from the heat and let it cool.

Once the cider concentrate has cooled off enough, turn your mixer on low and slowly pour it in to the butter/sugar/egg mixture.

Also add 1/2 cup of buttermilk…

…and slowly add the flour mixture.

Continue mixing until a dough forms. Bee-youtiful.

Turn the dough out onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and floured.

Press it down until the dough is about 1/2 inch thick, and then stick the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 20 minutes. We need to harden that dough, my darlings.

Grab a doughnut cutter, or if you don’t have one you could improvise with things of similar diameters. I think my cutter is 3″ on the outside and 1″ on the inside. I’ve been known to use a water glass in a pinch. A shot glass might do nicely for the middle.

Cut out as many doughnuts as you can from the flattened dough.

I was able to squeeze out about 19 or 20…

…plus holes…

…and one christmas tree, for good measure. If you’ve got extra dough, you can reshape it, freeze for a few more minutes, and then cut more shapes out of it if you’d like.

Now comes the fun part. Scoop your shortening into a deep pan. You need an oil depth of at least 3 inches or so for these suckers to cook properly, so plan accordingly. Heat the shortening over medium heat until it reaches 350°. Clip a candy/deep-fry thermometer to the side of the pan to help you maintain constant temperature.

Sorry, meat thermometers aren’t accurate for this sort of thing. Believe me, I’ve tried.

While your shortening is heating up, you can go ahead and get your dippin’ sugar ready. Mix 1 cup sugar with a few teaspoons of cinnamon. Or you could make a glaze if you’re feeling ambitious.

One final measure before we begin frying:

“I’m a safety girl.” And if you can name that movie line you’ve won yourself a drink at the Blue Banana.

Once your oil is the right temp, go ahead and drop a few of those suckers on in. Carefully, please. No holiday burns allowed. Fry in small batches, cooking for about 60 seconds on one side…

…and then gently turning them over to cook on the other side for another 30-60 seconds. Have some plates ready right next to you lined with bunches of paper towels. When you’re cooking the doughnut holes, keep in mind that they’ll cook a lot faster.

Let them cool for a few minutes on the paper towels, and then dip the topside in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and let cool on wire racks.

By now all of your neighbors have come over to see what that glorious smell is drifting down the street.

Take that, Top Pot.

The holes were super fun to make, plus they’re darn cute.

And who doesn’t love a doughnut christmas tree?

I also made some doughnut “logs” (*childish laughter*) with the leftover dough that I was too lazy to shape any other way.

The verdict? These things are seriously dangerous. The apple cider flavor was delicate but definitely present. I loved the texture, especially when they were still warm–the inside was soft and chewy and the outside was the tiniest bit crispy. The cinnamon sugar was the perfect cap-off and added nicely to the flavor.

Plus, the recipe made about a bazillion doughnuts. My tummy appreciated it very much.

My thighs, on the other hand, might disagree.

Thanks to Deb at Smitten Kitchen for this wonderful recipe that you can find right here. You’re my hero!

Oh, and a note about tomorrow–it’s the last day of Bakemas. Tune in for a wonderful recipe that is (gasp!) not baked. It’s not even fried.

Happy 11th Day of Bakemas!

-RDG

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day 10: loukoumades with honey orange sauce

December 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment

It’s day 10 and here’s the sitch:

1) My crazy great aunt keeps calling for computer advice.

2) I spent 2 hours at Target today, most of which was spent entering and leaving the parking garage.

3) Jillian Michaels has it out for me. I swear she watches me through the workout dvd.

4) I had no appetite for dinner today. I only want doughnuts.

5) I deep fried a bunch of junk over the weekend.

6) I’m going to share that deep fried junk with you.

These little beauties pictured above are loukoumades–little Greek morsels of fried dough. Traditionally they’re served with honey and cinnamon, but this recipe suggests a sweet orange sauce.

Don’t be scared of deep-frying, my darlings. Anyone with a fire extinguisher can do it.

They’re easy as pie. Let’s go.

Grab some flour, 1 packet of active dry yeast, cinnamon and salt.

You’ll also need honey, two oranges, one eggie, Crisco (or canola oil, for frying), canola oil or veggie oil (not pictured) and 1 1/4 cups warm water.

Get your standing mixer prepped with the paddle attachment.

Ready?

Pour the warm water into the bowl and add the packet of active dry yeast. Give it a mix and let the yeast dissolve.

Grate a teaspoon or so of orange rind…

…and add it to the yeast mixture.

Also add one tablespoon of canola oil…

…half a teaspoon of salt…

…and the egg. Beat at medium speed until the whole shebang is nicely combined.

Mix in about 3 cups of flour (13.5 ounces, or 3 cups lightly spooned) until a dough forms.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour.

Meanwhile, let’s make the sauce.

Grate another teaspoon of orange rind, throw it in a saucepan, and juice the two oranges over the top.

Add one cup of honey, a teaspoon and a half of cinnamon and toss that pan on the stove over low heat. Stir occasionally and heat until the honey has dissolved. Remove from heat, or keep on low until you’re ready to serve.

How’s the dough? Looks good to me.

Carefully drop the dough by the teaspoon into 375° oil (or shortening, as I used). Place a candy or deep-fry thermometer in the oil to help you maintain the temperature. Flip those suckers over once the underside is golden, or about 2 minutes per side.

Drain ‘em on paper towels and prepare yourself for deep-fried goodness.

While those are draining, I’d like you to take a minute and take a peek at the photo of these in the original recipe. They look golden and crusty, and perfectly shaped, right?

Now let’s meet my loukoumades.

Meet Crab Claw, one of loukoumades’ crazy cousins. He’s armed and ready for pinchin.

Here’s Roasted Turkey loukoumade. Someone should tell him he’s a little late for Thanksgiving.

And finally we have Fried Prawn loukoumade. He took a wrong turn somewhere near Red Lobster.

When we were ready to eat, the whole gang joined us for a swim in the honey orange sauce.

And boy did they enjoy it.

Whhheeeeeeeeee!

In all seriousness, these things were purdy tasty.

Next time, though, I’d do a few things differently:

1) I’d skip the sauce and serve them with plain ‘ol honey and cinnamon. The sauce was good, it was just a little too orangey for me.

2) I’d use oil instead of shortening. I used shortening because I had some other delicious treats to fry that required it, but I think it made the loukoumades too dense.

3) I wouldn’t get freaked out by how fast they cooked and take them out too soon. I judged by color and not by time. There is nothing worse than something burned in hot oil, and I got scared and yanked ‘em out of there.

But overall, I would definitely make these little darlings again. Second time’s a charm in the baking world.

Happy 10th Day of Bakemas!

-RDG

See the full recipe from Cooking Light right here.

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day 9: banana tarte tatin

December 21, 2009 by 1 Comment

My husband and I have issues. We’re trying to work through them, but sometimes it just seems like there’s no hope.

Here’s the glitch: we both like green bananas. Yellow? No thanks. The tiniest fleck of brown? Compost. God forbid–brown? Get it our of our kitchen. Stat.

So when the days go by and we’ve forgotten to eat the bananas in the two day window that we will actually consume them, what in the heck are we going to do with them?

I have a solution. This may save our marriage. And our over-ripe bananas.

I know you have some in your kitchen too. So c’mon. Let’s roll.

Grab those ripe little buggers. Three or four of ‘em. Throw an orange in there while you’re at it (for zesting only).

These guys would have been thrown out two days ago in our household. Waaaay too much brown goin’ on there. But for this recipe, the riper the better. They taste more banana-ey that way.

Also grab some frozen, ready-to-bake puff pastry. Keep in mind that one sheet takes about 40 minutes to defrost, so plan accordingly.

What did people do before frozen, ready-to-bake puff pastry? Make their own or something? Twas a hard-knock life.

Finally, you’ll need a half stick of butter, one cup of sugar (baker’s sugar, if you have it–granulated if you don’t), and some tasty cinnamon. Non-tasty cinnamon need not apply.

First, cube up the butter. Place it in a pan that is stovetop and oven safe*. This guy is enameled cast-iron, but you could also use a dutch oven. Put the butter over low to medium-low heat to get it melting.

*If you don’t have a pan that would work, don’t fret. You’ll just have to be extra careful transferring the hot caramel into a baking dish.

Meanwhile, halve the ‘nanners…

…and zest half of the orange.

Once the butter is melted, add the sugar.

Stir until combined…

…and continue cooking until the sugar is dissolved and you’ve got yummy, golden caramel. This should take 5-10 minutes over medium-low heat, or maybe a bit longer if you’re using regular old granulated sugar. Be SUPER CAREFUL: this stuff BURNS. Wear oven mitts and an apron to protect yo-self.

Very carefully lay the bananas down in the caramel mixture and sprinkle with the orange zest and a few dashes of cinnamon.

Lay out one sheet of defrosted puff pastry on a floured surface. Roll it out into whatever shape your pan is–we’re going to lay it on top of the bananas. My pan was round, so it wasn’t so much rolling as it was tucking.

Very, very carefully lay the shaped puff pastry on top of the bananas. It should come up to the edge of the pan and cover the banana mixture fully. Prick it a few times with a knife or fork. Toss it in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

I have a good feeling about this one.

Now, CAREFULLY (and I do mean CAREFULLY–I channeled my over-cautious mother for this part) place a plate over the pan. We need to flip this sucker out face-up while it’s hot or else the caramel will meld to the pan and life as we know it will be over. Oven mitts, aprons, a welding mask–suit up, people. Flip it over quickly and cautiously.

Are we all okay? No burns, scalds or scratches?

Good.

Oh. My. Goodness. (Over) ripe bananas have never looked so good.

Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

Right about now is when you’ll have your family hovering in your kitchen. The aroma will be completely irresistible.

I decided to carve it up like a pizza pie for ease of serving.

A dollop of whipped cream, a dash of cinnamon, and…

…heaven. Pure, unadulterated heaven.

Let’s just say heaven didn’t last long.

The bananas became infused with the warm caramel, the crust was flaky, and the whole time eating it I couldn’t help but think, “this is comfort food.”

Good think we always have bananas turning brown around our house. We’ll be making this a lot.

Happy 9th Day of Bakemas!

-RDG

You can find the recipe for Jamie Oliver’s Banana Tart Tatin right here.


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day 8: blue cheese and irish cheddar gougères

December 20, 2009 by 2 Comments

After all this sweet baking, I’m ready for some savory junk.

You know. Cheese, butter, wine. That sorta thing.

These ought to do the trick.

Have you ever had gougeres? They’re tiny little French cheese puffs seasoned with white wine, pepper, butter, and lots o cheese. And considering how simple they are to make, you could easily whip up a batch to serve with dinner. Or you could eat the entire batch with your husband immediately after they come out of the oven.

But I didn’t do that. *Whistles*

Ready? Let’s make some savory little cheesey puffs.

Grab some flour, salt and pepper. This flour is Perfect! For all my baking needs.

Mix 1/4 cup of water with 1/4 cup of dry white wine…

…cube up 4 tablespoons of butter, and grate up 1/3 of a cup blue cheese and 1/3 of a cup of Irish (or any sharp) cheddar.

Dump the butter, water and wine in a saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Your dining room table, where the natural light is, is not a stove top. It does not have burners. It is made of wood.

Just sayin.

Meanwhile, crack three eggs and give ‘em a good whisking.

Add 2/3 cups of flour to the butter mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. Continue stirring for 1 minute, then remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Next, add the eggs a spoonful at a time, stirring after each addition to make sure they’re completely incorporated.

Add the bleu cheese, give it a stir, and get ready for some serious savory goodness.

Now: grease your palm. No, seriously. Rub a little oil on it, or give it a quick spray with a can-o-Pam. It’ll make your life much easier. I promise.

Put a fat teaspoon of the dough in your hand, ball up a dime-size amount of the Irish cheddar, and place the cheese in the middle of the dough. Then wrap the edges of the dough around the cheese to form a tiny irish cheddar cocoon. Hee hee.

The dough is super sticky and it’s not exactly a piece of cake to work with. Just persevere. It’ll be soooooo worth it!

Place the little globbies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I think I made about 24 with the amount of dough that I had.

Stick ‘em in a 375° oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Oh sheesh. Don’t they look beautiful and crusty and cheesy?

There are no words to describe how tasty these are. They’re light and crusty on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside with a little bit of melted cheddar. The dough is the tiniest bit sharp and tangy because of the wine and blue cheese.

You know how earlier I hinted that husband and I ate all of these fresh out of the oven?

Not entirely true.

I had to snap a few quick photos. That delayed us about 5 minutes.

And then we ate all 24 of them, one after the other. They were that good.

Make these today. You know you want to.

Happy 7th Day of Bakemas!

-RDG

Bleu Cheese and Irish Cheddar Gougeres, adapted from this recipe at Epicurious

  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup finely crumbled blue cheese
  • 1/3 cup grated Irish cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until butter is melted. Stir in flour; reduce heat to medium-low. Stir vigorously until mixture forms large dough clumps, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs in medium bowl. Add beaten eggs a few tablespoons at a time, stirring until eggs are completely absorbed after each addition (dough will be sticky). Mix in blue cheese. Using a heaping teaspoon of dough at a time, pinch a dime-sized amount of Irish cheddar into a ball. Wrap the dough around the cheese. Drop each gougere onto prepared baking sheet at least 1″ apart.

Bake gougères until puffed, golden brown, and dry, about 30 minutes. Do AHEAD: Can be made up to 1 week ahead. Cool completely. Place in airtight containers and store in freezer. Rewarm on baking sheet in 350°F oven until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

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day 7: paula deen’s pumpkin gooey butter cakes

December 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment

I mess with a lot of recipes. My husband likes to call it tweaking.

Sometimes I improve them. Sometimes I obliterate them. Sometimes I just make them more…interesting.

But there’s one gal’s recipes that I don’t dare touch.

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That woman is Ms. Paula Deen, everyone. And I don’t care who knows it.

She cooks down-home, southern fare–fried chicken, brisket, beef stroganoff. She’s got a Mississippi drawl that makes me smile, always has rockin fingernails (red, acrylic), and a wears a diamond the size of my butt.

She puts butter and mayonnaise in everything, and yet she does not weigh 400 pounds. Any gal who can accomplish that feat is a goddess in my book.

I don’t mess with her recipes because she’s pretty much awesome. And she makes these kick-booty “gooey butter cakes.” Around this time-o-year, I must make them. I need to make them.

And I’m going to do it right now.

Here’s whatcha need:

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One box of yellow cake mix (“Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Golden” could not have a longer name, but I swear it’s the holy grail of yellow cake mixes), one 16 oz box of powdered sugar, and some ground nutmeg and cinnamon.

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Next, grab one package of cream cheese (let it sit out and get to room temp), and two sticks of butter. Or, as my idol would say, “budder.” These are budder cakes, after all.

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And finally, some vanilla extract, one can of pumpkin, and four eggies.

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First off, dump that yellah cake mix into a big ol’ bowl.

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Crack one eggie…

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…and melt one stick of budder and pour it on in.

Now, I must warn you: I’m about to do something that I never do. It may be a bit shocking.

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I’m using a handheld electric mixer. I know, I know.

Some of you might think that this is the “easy” way to mix stuff up. For me, it’s a lot of dang work. Normally I’d just dump the whole mess into the Kitchen Aid and flip a switch. With this thing, I have to attach the blades, plug it in, turn it on, swirl it around, scrape the bowl, and swirl it around some more.

My laziness boggles my mind sometimes.

Mix it on up (with whatever method you choose) until a dough forms.

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Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased rectangular baking dish.

Now would be a good time to preheat your oven to 350°.

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Now then. Cream together the pumpkin and the cream cheese…

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…add the rest of the eggs and the vanilla…

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…and the second stick of butter (melted), and mix it all together.

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Finally, add the box of powdered sugar (yep, the whole box–Paula Deen doesn’t mess around), a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a teaspoon of nutmeg.

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Mix the whole mess up until it’s smoove and creamy.

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Pour the filling on top of the cake “crust” and bake for 40-50 minutes…

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…or until it looks like this. Bee-youtiful.

A word to the baking wise: these are supposed to be gooey, so they’ll never quite “set” in the middle. A little jiggle is quite alright. Don’t over-bake, my friends. Trust the gooey butter process.

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See that gooey-ness? Oh, it’s so right.

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I need these in my life around the holidays.

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Imagine pumpkin pie, but buttery and creamy.

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Imagine that the crust is not thin and flaky, but thick, dense, sweet, and buttery.

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Oh, Paula. You make my life wonderful. And I promise, I didn’t mess with a thing.

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Dear readers, let these be a part of your life this weekend.

And an FYI: if you don’t like pumpkin, try making bananna, pineapple, or peanut butter gooey cakes. The link below will take ya to Paula’s recipe where she explains how to make those deeelicious varieties.

Happy 7th Day of Bakemas!

-RDG

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes, Paula Deen

Cake:

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

Filling:

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

Directions

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 fresh whipped cream.

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