Double Chocolate Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

This recipe is a Paula Dean special. I made the pumpkin version of it for Thanksgiving last year and it was a HUGE hit. This taste like a very dense brownie...it is to die for.

Side note: This a tricky one to bake because the middle SHOULD be gooey. My rule is, once it appears to be baked on the outside and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, you are good to go. In our gas oven it took about 36 minutes.

Double Chocolate Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Serves a whole hell of a lot of people

Ingredients:

Butter, for greasing pan, plus 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 egg, plus 2 eggs
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 to 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 8 tablespoons (1 stick) melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside.

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in nuts with a rubber spatula. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.

Bake for 35 to 50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces.