Ooey Gooey Cake

This "cake" is delicious. The texture reminds me more of a caramel brownie. I had the Peanut Butter version at a Relief Society fireside and the person who made them emailed the recipe out so I made the Chippy Gooey a couple weeks ago. They were both delicious. I think the original recipe comes from Paula Deen. Even if you normally don't like cake, I bet you'll like this kind.

Cake:
1 (18.25-oz) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9x2-inch pan.
2. Combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with electric mixer. Pat into the bottom of the baking pan.
3. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in sugar and beat well. Reduce mixer speed and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.
4. Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake 40-50 minutes. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake past that point!
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.

Variations:

Pumpkin Gooey: Use a spice cake mix instead of yellow. Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-oz can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual. Top each square with a pecan half. Serve with whipped cream

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

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

Carrot Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the filling. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to filling. Sprinkle top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts.

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

Banana Gooey: Prepare filling as directed above, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg.

Nutty Gooey: Add 1 cup chopped nuts to cake mixture.

Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or Heath bits into the filling. (I used the Heath bits and it was delicious!)