Dump Cake
intro
A nostalgic, ultra-easy baked fruit dessert with no mixing bowls required, featuring a buttery crumb top over sweet bubbly fruit, perfect for casual group gatherings.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep Oven and Pan
Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F), with the convection fan turned off. Grease the interior of a 9x13 inch (23x33cm) glass baking dish evenly with nonstick cooking spray or a small amount of softened butter to prevent sticking, then set the dish on a rimmed metal baking sheet to catch any bubbling spills during baking.
Layer Fruit Fillings
Open all canned fruit: first, spread the full 850g of cherry pie filling evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking dish, smoothing with a silicone spatula to cover the entire base. Next, pour the full 567g of undrained crushed pineapple directly over the cherry layer, and spread gently to create an even second fruit layer—do not stir the two fillings together.
Top with Cake Mix
Open the 432g box of dry yellow cake mix, and sprinkle the entire contents evenly over the top of the fruit layers. Use a fork to gently break up any large clumps of cake mix, creating a uniform, flat dry layer across the fruit—do not stir the mix into the fruit below, as this will create a soggy texture.
Add Butter and Toppings
Slice the 226g of cold unsalted butter into 3mm (1/8-inch) thin slices, and arrange the slices in an overlapping grid pattern across the entire surface of the dry cake mix, ensuring no patches of dry mix larger than a dime are left uncovered. Sprinkle the 75g of chopped pecans and 2g (1 teaspoon) of ground cinnamon evenly over the butter layer.
Bake Until Golden
Carefully transfer the baking sheet with the assembled dish to the preheated middle oven rack. Bake for 45 minutes at 175°C (350°F), until the top is deep golden brown and crispy, and the fruit filling is bubbling vigorously 1cm (1/2 inch) up the edges of the dish. Do not cover the dish with aluminum foil during baking, as this will make the top soggy.
Rest and Serve
Remove the baked dump cake from the oven, and let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes to allow the hot fruit layers to set before serving. Serve warm, paired with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if desired.
Tips
2.Customize flavors easily: swap cherry pie filling for equal amounts of apple, peach, or blueberry pie filling, or replace pecans with shredded coconut or chopped walnuts to match your taste.
3.Always set the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet: sweet fruit juices often bubble over during baking, and the sheet catches drips to prevent burnt, smoky messes in your oven.
OMG this dump cake is the easiest thing I’ve made all month! Threw it together for our last minute neighborhood cookout and everyone was begging for the recipe. Used cherry pie filling like the recipe said and it was SO good, no weird fancy ingredients needed. 10/10 will make again for our next potluck.
Wait, can I use a gluten free yellow cake mix for this? My youngest has celiac and I’ve been hunting for easy desserts we can all enjoy at Sunday family dinner that don’t require 100 specialty ingredients.
Total game changer for busy weeknights! I got home late from my kid’s practice, dumped all the ingredients in the pan in 5 minutes, popped it in the oven, and we had warm dessert by the time we finished cleaning up dinner plates. My picky 8 year old asked for seconds, which never happens.
Made this for our campsite potluck last weekend and it was the first dish gone! I prepped all the shelf stable ingredients ahead of time so all I had to do at the site was dump everything in the dutch oven and bake it over the camp coals. Absolute hit, will be adding this to my regular camping meal rotation.
Wait, dumb question — do I really not stir anything? I feel like every cake I’ve ever made requires mixing, this feels too easy lmao. I’m nervous I’m gonna mess it up for my first ever Friendsgiving tomorrow.
I’ve made this dump cake three times in the last two weeks! First for work potluck, then for my book club, then for my sister’s birthday cookout. I mix it up sometimes with apple pie filling and a dash of cinnamon, and it’s chef’s kiss every single time. So versatile!
This is perfect for my weekly meal prep! I cut it into individual slices after it cools, pop them in containers, and I have a little sweet treat to grab for my work lunch all week. Costs like $5 total to make the whole pan, can’t beat that for a budget friendly dessert.
I accidentally used salted butter instead of unsalted when I made this last night and I was worried it would be too salty, but it actually balanced out the sweet pie filling so well? Total happy accident, 10/10 will probably keep doing it on purpose.
Made this last night for movie night with my partner and we ate half the pan in one sitting oops. Topped it with whipped cream instead of ice cream because we forgot to grab some from the store, and it was still absolutely delicious. Will be making this every movie night from now on.
My grandma used to make a dump cake just like this when I was little, and I swear this recipe tastes exactly like hers! I got a little emotional taking the first bite, it brought back so many memories of summer cookouts at her house. Thank you so much for sharing such a simple, nostalgic recipe.
As a college student with basically zero cooking skills and a tiny dorm oven, this was a lifesaver for my floor’s little fall party. I didn’t even have to buy mixing bowls, just dumped everything straight into the pan. People thought I spent forever baking, little do they know it took 5 minutes of prep lmao.
Has anyone tried making this with vegan butter and a vegan cake mix? My kid has a dairy allergy and I’d love to make this for his class Halloween party, but I don’t want to test it last minute and have it flop.
Wait, I saw some people add cream cheese to this? Is that a good hack? I’m making this for my brunch club next weekend and I want to make it extra special without adding a ton of extra work.