Upside Down German Chocolate Cake

All the Christmas cookies were gone and it was time to make more dessert for my sweet (toothed) husband. I am still reeling from all the butter and sugar from the holidays, so I made this shortcut German Chocolate Cake. Shhhh, don't tell anyone but I even used a cake mix! I do hope you will click here and read about the real German Chocolate Cake I make for Pritchard Parker's birthday last year.

I think I originally got this recipe from Taste of Home Magazine. This is the third time I've made it and I would like to share my experiences.  First of all, I would like to say, prepare your pan according to the recipe and not the cake mix box.

Secondly, don't get the cream cheese closer than an inch from the the edges of the pan or your cake will not turn out without sticking.

And lastly, don't overbeat the cream cheese mixture like I once did. The recipe told me blend the mixture until combined, then beat until smooth. Because the first time I made the cake I had trouble "spreading" the mixture over the cake batter, I decided, wrongly, to really beat it until light and fluffy.

Big mistake.  After the cake had been in the oven for a while, I started hearing hissing and sizzling sounds. When I looked in the oven, I shrieked! The cream cheese was boiling out of the pan like flowing lava. I quickly put a sheet pan under the cake to stop any additional mess to my oven. 

This is NOT what you are looking for:

Upside Down German Chocolate Cake
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup pecans
1 box German chocolate cake mix
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 13x9x2 inch baking pan very well.  Sprinkle coconut and pecans into the pan.  Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour batter into prepared pan.  In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until blended.  Add egg and blend.  Add powdered sugar, mixing one cup at a time.  When all is combined, beat until smooth.  Drop by tablespoons over the batter  to within 1 inch of edges.  Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter.