I have quite the dilemma.
There are like a million desserts and sweet treats I want to make.
And I know I have a lifetime to make said desserts, a million is still a lot.
So I jump at any opportunity to make dessert.
For anything.
For anyone.
But the problem is, if I make a pretty pie or cheesecake or even a sheet cake, I run into the problem of trying to take several different photos of that dessert to share on the blog.
I mean it would be totally rude to cut a slice of cake or pie before I bring it to a dinner, birthday party, or get together.
And of course it would be rude to make everyone at said celebration stop for me to take a photo there, and plus I wouldn’t have my props or possibly good lighting.
But then I have to be all sneaky and cut a perfect slice to wrap up and take home.
Or pray for leftovers.
Which might only come from fighting off grubby hands from stealing the last piece or my serving dish.
This was the case for this cake.
I brought it to a family dinner and seriously turned around and half the cake was already gone before we were even ‘officially’ serving dessert.
It was inhaled like pure oxygen.
And I barely got enough for the slice in these photos.
This cake is pure pumpkin heaven. With a cookie like crust and rich custardy pumpkin filling it makes for a perfect fall dessert for a large gathering.
It has all the flavors of pumpkin pie but is richer, thicker, yet gooey.
If you are not a fan of pumpkin pie you WILL like this, said all the pumpkin pie haters who ate it.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
A fall inspired twist on a popular dessert. This Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake is an easy to make dessert with a shortbread crust and pumpkin cream cheese filling.
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package butter yellow cake mix
- 1 egg
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- --
- Filling:
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground all spice or ground cloves (or both)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
- For crust: Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9×13-inch baking pan.
- For filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly mixed. Add in the vanilla and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and all spice, and mix well.
- Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be slightly ‘underdone’ and a little gooey.
- Let cool for at least 40 minutes before serving. Serve topped with whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired.
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I've always wanted to make gooey butter cake. Today might be the day!