what did you do in that pan?

I wish I could begin to apologize sufficiently for the immense wrong I have done to my poor fans during this extended hiatus from diamonds-ing. All I can do is plead overall life upheaval getting in the way of me indulging in anything pleasant for the past few months (well, almost anything...). But that is irrelevant now. I am here, and you can all rest easy.

Yesterday, while spending an extended time in bed attempting to recover from some seriously strong mimosas, I rediscovered my favorite pastime - click-the-recipe on foodnetwork.com. During my clickings I stumbled across Paula Deen creating a gooey butter cake. I had seen this baked good title previously and been intrigued, but always slightly intimidated. This time, I took a closer look and noticed that among the ingredients listed was yellow box cake. As luck would have it, when I moved out of the hellhole that contributed to/entirely caused aforementioned life upheaval, I discovered an unopened box of yellow cake mix. This had to happen. After a delightful morning of shoe/legging shopping with Miss Camila, we returned to my new home and set to work. Here's how it went:

Gooey Chocolate Chip Butter Cake
(slightly but not even really (thanks to Camila) adjusted from Paula Deen's recipe)

Bottom
* one box yellow cake mix
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* 1 egg

Filling
* 8 oz package cream cheese
* 2 eggs
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 16 oz confectioners sugar
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* some choc chips (1/2 cup should suffice)

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease 12x9 pan (approx..)

Mix the cake mix with the butter, then the egg. Mixture will be thick. Scoop into the greased pan and spread evenly.

For the filling: beat the cream cheese. This is meant to be done with a standing mixer, but being that not all of us are fortunate enough to have standing mixers, it can be done by hand with a whisk and wooden spoon combination effort. Once cream cheese is smooth and well beaten, beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. Beat well. Mix in the sugar (I recommend starting in the middle and doing a slow incorporation in order to avoid dusting yourself with sugar), then pour in and incorporate the butter. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips (or toffee pieces, or nuts if you like nuts in your mouth). Pour the filling over the cake part. Bake for 45 minutes. The edges will pull away slightly. The top will be golden brown and slightly soft. Cool slightly. Prepare to be worshiped.

Note: pictures on Cam's camera. Soon to come.