My friend Daniel is willing to go to the ends of the earth for a taste of some Ooey Gooey Cake.

No, that’s not a joke.  He will drive to unsafe neighborhoods and buy packages of it from gas stations.  I’m not judging.  This stuff is pretty addictive.

So when he helped us move from our little starter home into our beautiful new(ish) house, I offered him money and to my surprise, he turned it down.

“No Jess, you keep your money,” he said.  “Remember that dessert you made at Christmas a few years ago?  It’s real sweet?  If you can just make me some of that, I’d be so happy.”

Let’s get this straight – you will turn down $100 for a pan of cake that would cost me a fraction of that to make?  And you remember the dessert I made a few years ago when I can’t even remember what I cooked for dinner last week? Well, hey, I’ll take it!!

So here’s how you can make the best damn cake ever, winner of friends and moving buddies alike…though, a little disclaimer here…I wouldn’t really call it a “cake.”  It’s more like a squishy, sweet, melt-in-your mouth mix between a chess square/lemon bar consistency and a cake that’s just slightly under cooked.  And more than two pieces just might put you in a sugar coma, so be prepared to share!

I’m getting better at the whole “taking pictures of food” thing, I think.  Might need to sign up for my good friend Erin’s photography workshop over on Sixth Bloom.

Anyway, here’s the ingredients I used for these delectable dessert.  Really, that’s all you need: yellow cake mix, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, butter, and eggs.

Start by melting 8 tablespoons of butter in the microwave at 20-30 seconds.  I cut my butter into individual tablespoons to make it melt uniformly – a lesson I learned from my grandmother.  Looks like this:

Pour the melted butter, one box of yellow cake mix, and one egg into your stand mixer (or into a bowl to beat with a hand mixer) and mix it up until it reaches a doughy consistency.  Then press the dough into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 X 9 inch pan.  Make sure you press some dough up the sides like you see here to create the crust of this cake all the way around.  

Then, in a new bowl (or just clean out the one you had before), beat your cream cheese, the remaining two eggs, the vanilla, and powdered sugar until creamy.  Pour this mixture over your crust and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

 

When you take it out, the top should be a golden color and should seem squishy on top.  Sorry – lack of a better word!  But really, it’s squishy. 

Oops!  I ate a piece before I remembered to take a pic.  But really, wouldn’t you be just so excited for this delicious dessert that you might forget too?  I wouldn’t judge.  Here’s the recipe for you guys – a good ole printable for your cookbooks…or Pinterest!  (Check me out on Pinterest while you’re at it!)

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