If there is one dessert worth making this week, it is Paula Deen’s gooey butter cake. This is the original recipe and it’s so easy with only a yellow cake mix, butter, cream cheese and eggs and it has that classic ooey, gooey middle!

Now don’t be confused, this is NOT the traditional St. Louis bakery version. This is Paula Deen’s original gooey butter cake recipe—the easy cake-mix version that made this rich, gooey dessert famous with home bakers.

Don’t worry, I’ll take you through all the trouble shooting below, but first, here’s one I don’t want you to miss:

How do I get the perfect gooey center?

This is so important!! 🚨 Don’t Wait for the Center to Look Fully Set!

You must do the jiggle test on an ooey-gooey dessert. It’s going to look undone, but give the pan a jiggle and then take the cake out of the oven when the edges are golden brown but the center still moves slightly.

What Does Gooey Butter Cake Taste Like?

Imagine a buttery, melt in your mouth yellow-cake crust topped with a rich cream-cheese custard that’s sweet, soft and just a little gooey in the center. It’s somewhere between a cake, cheesecake bar and blondie—but much more wonderful.

This is a pure Southern comfort recipe. Our Ooey Gooey Butter Cake with a dusting of powdered sugar on top makes it look as good as it tastes.

The Surprising Twist on How We Eat Our Gooey Butter Cake

Fair warning: Claire and I did extensive testing on the best way to eat this cake, and the unanimous winner was straight from the fridge the next day. Chilled, dense, and impossibly rich with that cold sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. Do not skip that step.

If there’s one dessert that shows up on repeat in our house every single fall, it’s this pumpkin cake. It’s soft, it’s moist, it’s perfectly spiced, and it’s topped with the creamiest cream cheese frosting you’ll ever spread on a cake.

My kids ask for this one by name, and honestly? So do I. If you’ve been searching for the best pumpkin cake recipe, you’ve found it.

I don’t remember eating a lot of pumpkin anything when I was a little girl. Was it not a big thing or did I just miss out? Either way, once I was married, a neighbor brought some pumpkin cake to a church function and I never did get the recipe from her.

That means I’ve now spent over twenty years trying to recreate it and this is finally the recipe that wins! It’s the fluffiest, pumpkin-iest cake I’ve made, and that cream cheese frosting is absolute luscious divinity.

Ingredients You’ll Need

You don’t need anything fancy to make this pumpkin cake, just a handful of pantry staples, plenty of pumpkin puree, warm fall spices, and a rich cream cheese frosting that takes it completely over the top.

Cake

• Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of this cake and gives it structure without weighing it down.
• Baking Powder: Works alongside the baking soda to give the cake its lift, so you get that soft, fluffy crumb instead of a dense one.
• Baking Soda: Works with the baking powder to give the cake lift and a soft, tender crumb.
• Salt: Just a touch to balance all that warm spice and sweetness — don’t skip it!
• Cinnamon: Adds warm fall flavor and complements the pumpkin perfectly.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves that takes the spice level from good to perfect!
• Vegetable Oil: The secret to an exceptionally moist cake that stays soft for days.
• Eggs: Bind everything together and give the cake structure and richness. Large egg

The best part of this apple cake recipe isn’t the apples or even the warm caramel sauce. It’s the part nobody expects, and I could honestly eat it all by itself.

This easy apple cake recipe is loaded with fresh apples and warm spices, then served warm with homemade caramel sauce. It’s perfect for fall!

As the cake bakes, the top gets slightly caramelized and chewy, and it is ridiculously delicious. Add that warm caramel sauce and this fresh apple cake is pretty hard to beat.

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the Apple Cake

• Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps create that irresistible, slightly caramelized top.
• Brown Sugar: Adds extra moisture and a deeper, caramel-like sweetness.
• Butter: Gives the apple cake a rich flavor and tender texture. Make sure it’s softened for easy mixing.
• Eggs: Add structure, richness and moisture to the cake.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds warmth and enhances all those apple and spice flavors.
• Flour: All-purpose flour gives the cake its structure while keeping it soft and tender.
• Salt: Balances the sweetness and brings out all the other flavors.
• Nutmeg: Adds a warm, slightly nutty flavor that pairs perfectly with apples.
• Cinnamon: The must-have apple spice! It adds warmth and that classic fall flavor.
• Ground Cloves: Just a little adds a deep layer of warm spice without overpowering the apples.
• Baking Soda: Helps the cake rise and contributes to its tender texture.
• Baking Powder: Gives the cake additional lift so it doesn’t become too dense.
• Apples: Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples work great here. Granny Smith brings a tart contrast to the sweet cake, while Honeycrisp adds a sweeter, juicy crunch.

For the Caramel Sauce

• Read more