Ooey Gooey Brownie Salted Caramel Cake

I’m originally from the St. Louis area — I miss the Midwest – it will always be home.  That being said, I desperately miss New York but what I miss the most is the ocean.  Colorado is beautiful — but there is no water – no water from the sky, no water to sit by and dream what is on the other side, no shores to walk along and let your mind wander.  Oh yeah….we have a reservoir — woweeeeee….teasing I tease.  We do have the glorious mountains.

One day, our dream is to live in California – I adore the Pacific Ocean – I love California and have been so lucky to have traveled there several times.  The Pacific Coast Highway one of the most beautiful drives ever.

Back to St. Louis — St. Louis is home to many culinary treats – ice cream cones…Italian food “on the hill” including toasted ravioli which I made for my New York family and they were wowed… and ooey gooey butter cake to name a few. 

This morning I decided I wanted to play with the ooey gooey butter cake – so I thought — brownies….salted caramel — and the ooey gooey butter cake topping…I wanted to add some candied pecans to the mix – but time slipped away.

Ooey Gooey Brownie Salted Caramel Cake

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 fudge brownie mix (don’t report me to the food police)

1 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup salted caramel (purchased from store or make your own)
1 teaspoon of vanilla

In a bowl – stir together the one egg and 1/2 cup of melted butter.  Stir in brownie mix until combined.   It will be thick — press evenly into the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan.  Bake in 350 degrees oven for 20 minutes.  (I had to go 20 minutes — mountains — but check at 15 — should be still soft but not runny).

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, two eggs, two cups of powdered sugar, vanilla, melted butter, the salted caramel until it is combined.  Pour over baked brownie crust. 

I took a few dollops of salted caramel and made a beautiful design on top which disappeared in the baking – so don’t waste your time. 

Ok, not so beautiful but art is subjective.  It was a little Pollocky.

Bake for 35 minutes — center will not appear totally set..cool completely (that’s nuts -we had a warm gooey piece right after we took it out of the oven and it was glorious) in pan on wire rack before cutting into bars – you can sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like but why gild the lily?