Brown Sugar Pudding Cake

Because the evenings here are still so cool and because Randy hasn’t learned that chocolate is a necessary part of every day’s food chain, every once in a while I venture out of my comfort zone and bake something that has no chocolate. This pudding cake makes a great comfort food, and still gives me the feeling of ooey gooey warm delicious flavor, all the while earning me points with Randy for making him something other than chocolate.
The sauce hiding beneath the brownielike crust is wonderful. Serve this with BlueBell Homemade vanilla and the warmth of the cake will slightly melt the ice cream in with the pudding like cake…..marvelous!
1/2 cup softened butter * (let me stop right now and explain that softened butter is not butter that is melted in the microwave. Do not melt the butter, just let it stand at room temp for about 30 min to 1 hour)
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teas baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 teas ground nutmeg
1 teas ground cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/2 cup raisins (I like to use the golden, much milder flavor)
1 1/2 cups water
Beat butter at medium speed with mixer until creamy; gradually add 1/2 cup brown sugar, beating well.
Combine flour and next 4 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately withmilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Mix at low speed after each addition until blended. Stir in raisins. Pour batter into a greased 2 qt. souffle dish (or a deep pyrex dish)
Combine remaining 1 cup brown sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour sugar mixture carefully over batter in dish. Bake at 375 for 40 min or until edges are golden and pull away from sides of dish. Let stand at least 10 min before serving. Dessert will be very saucy at bottom of dish, but will thicken as it stands. Yields: 6 servings.