Apple Dump Cake

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Despite its less than enthralling name, dump is an incredibly easy and delicious dessert. Halfway between a cake and a cobbler, this apple dump cake is a fantastic all-purpose, cheater dessert fit for any occasion.

For more similar recipes, why not make a simple Blueberry Cobbler or my Bisquick™ Peach Cobbler Recipe

Apple Dump Cake

Getting its name from the fact that you, quite literally, dump all of the ingredients together into a pan and bake it, this recipe goes back to the 1980’s (at least!) and is a great dessert to bring to a potluck.

Instead of a traditional cobbler that would use just the filling and then put a doughy flour and butter mixture on top, this recipe uses the convenient hack of a pre-prepared spice cake mix and plenty of grated butter to achieve the desired texture.

It might not be the most traditional way to make a dessert, but it is surely a heck of a lot easier than many others and still incredibly tasty as well.

Apple Dump Cake Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts.

• Apple pie filling

• Apple pie spice

• Cinnamon

• Spice cake mix

• Walnuts

• Salted butter

How To Make Apple Dump Cake

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the spice cake mix with all of the other spices

• In a 9×13 pan, add the pie filling until it covers the whole bottom of the pan

• Sprinkle the spice cake and spice mixture over the top until it is covered completely

• Grate the cold butter over the top of the cake mix in an even layer

• Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and crunchy and the filling is bubbling around the edges

• Remove from the oven, cool slightly, and serve with ice cream

Why Do You Grate a Bunch of Butter On Top?

This apple dump cake recipe uses a bit of a weird trick of grating a lot of very cold butter over the top of the spice mix, rather than making dough out of butter, sugar, and flour like you normally would for a cobbler.

The reason this works so well is that the butter melts gradually in the oven, mixing slowly with the boxed spice cake mix and spices. This butter then forms its own little irregular patches of crumbly, doughy goodness all over the top of the dump cake.

The butter then begins to brown, caramelizing all of the spices and making this incredible crust on top that is even better than the actual cake filling itself.

Do You Have To Make This With Apples?

This recipe is definitely focused on apples, but there is no one saying that you absolutely have to only make an apple dump cake.

If you wanted to, you could easily swap out any other kind of fruit you want.

For a simple cherry dump cake, replace the apple pie filling and spices with an equal amount of cherry pie filling, alongside some more appropriate spices, like more allspice and nutmeg, rather than adding extra cinnamon.

You could do peaches or even cranberries – just make sure to try and pair the spices to your chosen fruit to get the best result.

Looking for more delicious Cake recipes? Try these out:

• Chocolate Root Beer Soda Cake

• Upside Down Apple Cake

• Lemon Cherry Crunch Cake

Enjoy!

Love,

Karlynn

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