Gooey Butter Cake topped with chocolate chips and pecans.

If you need a crowd-pleasing dessert for a holiday office party, girls' get-together baby shower, football game, or almost any other gathering, here's your dessert. A cinch to whip up, this gooey butter cake recipe will have people begging for the recipe. Paula Deen's original recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/gooey-toffee-butter-cake-recipe/index.html. And, there are lots of variations out there; pumpkin, toffee, lemon, chocolate, double chocolate and plain. But I like mine with a topping of chocolate chips and pecans. I've made the recipe many times over the years and the only addition that I have made is bit of salt to the filling layer. I found it countered the sweetness slightly and made the flavors sing.

Filling layer, all whipped up.

Chocolate Chip & Pecan Gooey Butter Cake

Cake Base Layer

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling Layer

(8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Topping

11 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs, vanilla and salt. Add the confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped pecans on top of filling. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey.

The finished cake before slicing it into small squares.