Gooey Butter CUPcakes!

Ok I'm jumping onto the gooey-butter-cake bandwagon and
I'm kind of obsessed. Since the last gooey butter cake I made was such a success, I decided to try Paula Deen's famous recipe. There are hundreds of different variations that can be done to the basic backbone recipe. The recipe uses a box cake as a "crust" that turns out being a soft cake layer, and then is covered in gooey topping that consists of cream cheese, powdered sugar and of course, butter.

This version was a chocolate peanut butter combo gooey butter cake. It's best to bake the cake in a 9x12 glass pyrex dish but since I only had an 8x8 pyrex, I put dollops of the extra crust and extra gooey topping into cupcake liners and made mini cakes. I baked the cupcakes for about 18 minutes (until edges are set and middle is still jiggly and gooey looking) and the 8x8 cake for 40 minutes.

I absolutely LOVE the gooey butter cupcakes because it makes this recipe so much easier to share with friends and family! No more cutting up messy squares of cake when everyone can have their own individual cake with their own individual crunchy, sweet edges and warm gooey center. And they are cuter. These cupcakes can be made with any combo of cake mix and gooey butter topping...any at all....ooohh the calorific possibilities!!!

Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake (Chocolate Peanut Butter variation!)

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce chocolate cake mix
1 egg
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted

1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the 3/4 mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 inch pan. Divide the rest of the mixture among 6 cupcake liners and pat down into mini crusts.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, peanut butter, butter and beat together.

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread 3/4 of the mixture over cake batter in 8x8 inch pan and divide the rest among the 6 cupcake liners. Bake cupcakes for 15-18 minutes and 8x8 inch cake for 40-45 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Cake

Dark Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, Peanut Butter Ganache and Peanut Brittle Cake.

The dark chocolate cake isn't that dark- it's just moist and delicious. I've never been super happy with from-scratch cakes but this recipe is amazing!

Dark Chocolate Cake

from Allrecipes.com

• 2 cups boiling water or coffee
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from Sky High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably a commercial brand (because oil doesn’t separate out)

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

8 ounces seimsweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup half-and-half or milk

1. Melt chocolate in microwave in intervals until melted and smooth. Whisk in peanut butter and liquid until desired consistency. Use warm.

Peanut Brittle

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup (or use homemade, cheaper substitute like)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups peanuts
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Grease a large cookie sheet or use a silpat. Set aside.
2. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 250 degrees F and add peanuts. Keep cooking until mixture reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
3. Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter or margarine and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet or silpat. Cool. Snap candy into pieces.

To Assemble Cake:

Fill layers of dark chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Stack and frost entire cake. Let sit in fridge until the frosting hardens a bit then pour on glaze and let it drip down the sides. Decorate with chopped peanuts and peanut brittle.