Weekend Baking 1.6

Ridiculously Delicious (and Fattening) Edition

Quite a while ago, I was watching Paula Deen discuss her restaurant in Savannah, and their bestselling desserts. Since I bake weekly, my ears perked up because I'm always looking for recipes to try. Then I sort of forgot about it for a while.

Near the end of January I was reading an entry from Linda at All & Sundry, and she mentioned one of the desserts I'd heard about on that episode of Paula's show. Actually, she more than mentioned it, she practically raved. That's when I knew I'd have to try it sooner rather than later.

Still, it took me almost an entire month to whip up a batch of my very own Gooey Butter Cake. Although, I'm kind of glad I did, because I may have gained a lot more weight than I have to this point. That's due to the fact that Gooey Butter Cake is delicious, and it's all I can do to keep from constantly shoveling some into my mouth instead of something more healthy and balanced. It's more of a bar than an actual cake - a crust made with butter, egg, and cake mix, topped with a cream cheese mixture that's much sweeter than cheesecake, but nearly as delicious. In a word, it's AWESOME. Just to make it a little more delicious, we've been eating it with sliced strawberries and whipped cream on top, but it's more than perfectly fine all by itself and best served at room temperature or warmer.

The reason I made it this week is that I needed a dessert for a co-worker's going away party (sob! - she's one of my favorites, and my favorites are dropping like flies!) but I wanted to make a a batch for us to eat so I could make sure it was good before I thrust it upon my unsuspecting co-workers. So I made a batch on Wednesday. Shortly after it came out of the oven, I couldn't resist sampling it because it smelled so incredibly good! So, I went to the kitchen and cut a slice. Then I inhaled it and called my mom to tell her to make a batch. Soon after I went into the kitchen and helped myself to a second slice, slightly embarrassed that Aaron would know that I ate so much of it before it was actually "dessert time".

Aaron got home and smelled the cake as soon as he walked through the door. He bee-lined to kitchen to see where the aroma was coming from, and exclaimed, "You already tried it!"

"Well, yeah," I said, "I had to make sure it was edible before I made you eat some."

"Well, what about the second piece you had?"

"The baby heard me talking about it and demanded a slice for herself."

"Gotcha," he said with a laugh. Apparently that excuse doesn't fly just yet.