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I am sorry about the name. I did not choose it. My aunt brought this cake to a potluck in 1974, and a man went back for seconds and then asked her for the recipe. She told him. He asked again, because he did not believe her. She told him again, and he asked a third time, and she finally wrote it on a paper napkin for him so he could see it was true. You dump the fruit in the pan, you dump the dry cake mix on top, you cover it with butter and you do not stir. That is the entire recipe, and it comes out of the oven like a cobbler with a crisp, buttery, golden top.
My aunt called it her emergency dessert, because everything in it lived in her cupboard: a can of crushed pineapple, a can of cherry pie filling, a box of yellow cake mix, and the butter. When somebody called on Saturday to say they were coming by after supper, she had it in the oven before she hung up the phone. The only thing that can go wrong is the top. Anywhere the butter does not reach stays dry and powdery, so the butter goes on in thin slices laid edge to edge over as much of the surface as you can cover. And nobody stirs. Not before, not during and not after.
Why this dump cake works
- Dry cake mix over wet fruit. The juice from the fruit soaks up from below and the butter melts down from above, and the mix turns into a tender cake crumb in between.
- Thin slices of cold butter. They melt evenly across the top and make it crisp and golden. Melted butter poured on runs into puddles and leaves dry spots.
- Pineapple with its juice. The juice is the moisture the cake mix needs. Do not drain it.
- No stirring. Stirring turns it into a gummy cake. Left in layers, it bakes into fruit on the bottom and crumb on top.
Ingredients
Makes one 9 by 13 inch pan, 12 servings. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
- 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple with its juice (567g)
- 1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling (595g)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 box (about 15 ounces) yellow cake mix (425g), dry, straight from the box
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter (226g), cut in thin slices
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (55g)
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar (25g)
- Butter for the pan, and vanilla ice cream to serve
Use only the dry cake mix. Do not add the eggs, oil or water the box asks for. Any cake mix in the 15 to 16.5 ounce range works.
How to make dump cake
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
- Spread the crushed pineapple with all of its juice evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- Spoon the cherry pie filling over the pineapple and spread it gently into an even layer. Sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon over the fruit.
- Sprinkle the dry yellow cake mix evenly over the fruit, all the way into the corners. Smooth it lightly with the back of a spoon. Do not stir it into the fruit.
- Lay the thin slices of cold butter over the cake mix, edge to edge, covering as much of the top as you can.
- Scatter the 1/2 cup chopped pecans and the 2 tablespoons brown sugar over the butter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up at the edges. If you see dry powdery patches after 30 minutes, dot them with a little more butter.
- Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. Spoon it out warm with vanilla ice cream.
Tips that make the difference
- Slice the butter thin while it is cold. Thin cold slices cover more of the top than soft chunks.
- Do not drain the pineapple. The juice is what bakes the cake mix into a cake.
- Spread the cake mix all the way to the edges so no fruit shows through bare.
- Do not stir at any point. This is the whole recipe.
Variations
- Peach. Use two cans of sliced peaches in juice, one drained and one with juice, with a spice cake mix.
- Apple. Two cans of apple pie filling with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a yellow or spice cake mix.
- Blueberry. Blueberry pie filling with the crushed pineapple, the way some potlucks still make it.
- Coconut. Scatter 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut (40g) over the butter along with the pecans.
Storage and make-ahead
Dump cake keeps covered at room temperature for 1 day, then in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Rewarm a serving in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, or the whole pan in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.
It is also good cold, out of the pan, the next morning, which is how my uncle ate it.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called dump cake?
Because you dump the ingredients into the pan in layers and do not mix them. It is an old potluck name that stuck.
Why does my dump cake have dry spots on top?
The butter did not reach those spots. Cover the top with thin butter slices edge to edge, and dot any dry patches with more butter halfway through baking.
Do I add eggs and oil to the cake mix?
No. Only the dry mix goes in, straight from the box. The fruit juice and butter do the rest.
Can I make dump cake ahead?
Yes. Bake it the morning of the potluck and serve it at room temperature or rewarmed. It keeps well for a few days.
Fruit, dry mix, butter, oven. Do not stir, and have a paper napkin ready, because somebody is going to want the recipe written down.
Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake (The No-Stir Potluck Classic)
The old potluck dump cake: crushed pineapple, cherry pie filling and cinnamon in a 9 by 13 pan, a box of yellow cake mix sprinkled dry on top, a cup of butter in thin slices, pecans and brown sugar, baked at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes without stirring.
Ingredients
- 1 can
- 1 can
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 box (about 15 ounces) yellow cake mix (425g), dry, straight from the box
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter (226g), cut in thin slices
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- Butter for the pan, and vanilla ice cream to serve
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
- Spread the crushed pineapple with all of its juice evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- Spoon the cherry pie filling over the pineapple and spread it gently into an even layer. Sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon over the fruit.
- Sprinkle the dry yellow cake mix evenly over the fruit, all the way into the corners. Smooth it lightly with the back of a spoon. Do not stir it into the fruit.
- Lay the thin slices of cold butter over the cake mix, edge to edge, covering as much of the top as you can.
- Scatter the 1/2 cup chopped pecans and the 2 tablespoons brown sugar over the butter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up at the edges. If you see dry powdery patches after 30 minutes, dot them with a little more butter.
- Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. Spoon it out warm with vanilla ice cream.
