Gooey Butter Cakes, Wilmington Island Marsh Mud Cake, Chocolate Gobs, Key Lime Grits Pie

The Lady & Sons Just Desserts
by Paula Deen

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Gooey Butter Cakes

Butter Gooey Cakes. Ooey Gooey Butter Cakes. Ooey Booey Gooey Cakes. These are just a few of the names I've heard our guests at The Lady & Sons call 'em. But to quote Shakespeare:

What's in a name?
That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

This is exactly how I feel about our Gooey Butter Cakes. No matter what you call them, they're like that sweet rose that Shakespeare wrote about. These delectable cakes were an instant hit the first day they showed up in The Bag Lady basket and they immediately became one of my most requested items. These little sweeties actually resemble a bar-type dessert instead of what we know as a traditional cake. Over the years, I have made every flavor imaginable, using this basic recipe. I'll give you some of my recommendations but by all means experiment and have fun creating your very own version of our signature Gooey Butter Cakes.

Cake

1 18.25-ounce box yellow cake mix
1 egg
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 16-ounce box confectioners'

Sugar

2/3 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13 X 9 X 2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well. Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point! Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. Just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way — even for piggies like me!

Pumpkin Gooey: This variation has to be at the top of my list, especially around Thanksgiving. For the cake part, I sometimes use a spice cake mix. I have even used a chocolate cake mix, but I think my favorite is the basic yellow cake mix. Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Cut into squares and top each square with a pecan half. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I promise you'll never want pumpkin pie again!

Pineapple Gooey: Add a 20-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Lemon Gooey: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (approximately 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Carrot Cake Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/3 cups finely grated carrots to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to cream cheese filling. You can sprinkle the top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts if you like. Proceed as directed above.

Chocolate Chip Gooey: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above.

Banana Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix. Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg. Proceed as directed above.

Nutty Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts to the cake mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, Heath Almond Toffee Bits or Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits into filling. Proceed as directed above.

Yields 20 to 24 squares

Wilmington Island Marsh Mud Cake

I am fortunate enough to live on beautiful Wilmington Island, where my home sits directly on Turner's Creek. There's nothing more wonderful and peaceful than looking out my window and seeing the porpoises playing and gliding through the water, or the herons stalking the minnows in the tidewater creeks. Many homes on the island sit either on the water or the marsh — any way you look at it, we all see our share of mud here. Since this is one of the favorite cakes baked out here, I think that the name is very befitting.

Cake

½ cup cocoa
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans

Frosting

1 16-ounce box light brown sugar
1/8 cup cocoa
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, softened
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 10.5-ounce package miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13 X 9 X 2-inch pan. Stir cocoa into mixing bowl with butter. Add eggs, flour, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat well with a handheld electric mixer. Stir in nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes. While cake is baking, prepare frosting. Mix brown sugar, cocoa, butter, milk, and vanilla together in a bowl and beat until smooth. Remove cake from oven and pour marshmallows over hot cake. Pour frosting over marshmallows on top.

serves 16 to 20

Two Brothers' Chocolate Gobs

I remember making these so very often for two cute little towheaded brothers. If I shut my eyes I can see them right now, running through the back door, leading a pack of more cute little towheaded boys. They would be heading them straight to the refrigerator, slingin' open the door, laughin' and yappin' and wiping snot off their upper lips with their shirtsleeves, and smelling like wet dogs; the epitome of snips, and snails, and puppy-dog tails. The pack had interrupted their play long enough to come in and nab what they most assuredly knew would be in the bottom left-hand crisper drawer of the fridge: the yummy and unforgettable chocolate gob!

It's hard to believe that those two smelly little boys have grown into the same two handsome and good-smelling men: my dear sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. And by the way, some things never change: after all these years, they still love those chocolate gobs.

Cake

2 cups sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa

Filling

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Cream together sugar and shortening in bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy; add eggs, continuing to beat. Stir together buttermilk, boiling water, and vanilla; blend this into creamed mixture at low speed. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa. Add to mixture 1 cup at a time, blending well at low speed. Batter will be very thin, but not to worry. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, allow to cool, and transfer to wax paper.

For filling, put flour into a saucepan and slowly add milk, stirring until smooth. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring, until very thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Cream together sugar, butter, shortening, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add cooled flour mixture and whip until fluffy. Spread onto bottom side of cookie and top with another cookie, to make a sandwich. Wrap individually in plastic wrap, store in refrigerator, and save for those snotty-nosed precious little boys and girls.

yields 25 gobs

Key Lime Grits Pie

I had just taken a grits pie out of the oven when a friend walked in. A piece was immediately shoved in his face and I asked, "What kind of pie is this?"

After he'd made a couple of wrong guesses, I finally confessed to him that he was enjoying a grits pie. His face lit up, and he said, "You know what I think, Paula? I think this would make a wonderful Key lime pie."

"You know, J.R.," I said, "you just might be right." So back to the stove I went. If I say so myself, the results are pretty good.

1 unbaked deep-dish 9-inch pie shell
1 cup water
2/3 teaspoon salt
¾ cup quick-cooking grits
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
3/8 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (use bottled if fresh limes are unavailable)

Meringue

3 egg whites
3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons sugar

Prepare your crust and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a small saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil. Add grits and cook for 4 minutes. It's not especially easy to cook such a small amount of grits, so this will require your constant attention. Stir almost entire time that the grits are cooking. Add butter and continue to cook and stir for an additional minute. Set aside.

In a bowl, stir together sugar, flour, egg yolks, buttermilk, and Key lime juice. Stir into cooked grits. Pour into pie shell and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until set. Remove pie from oven.

Prepare meringue by beating egg whites and cream of tartar together until frothy. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Spread over top of pie, sealing edges well. (Meringue should touch the edges of crust. Meringue can shrink up and come loose from crust if it is not sealed well.) Increase oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is a golden brown. This pie is delicious warm or cold.

Serves 6 to 8

Copyright © 2002, 2006 by Paula H. Deen

About the Author

Paula Deen is the host of Paula's Home Cooking, owner of Savannah's famous The Lady & Sons Restaurant, and co-owner of Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. She is the author of four cookbooks, including Paula Deen & Friends: Living It Up, Southern Style. Paula Deen lives in Savannah, Georgia.