Read on for the recipe, lazy bakers!
CHERRY DUMP CAKE – There are many variations of this recipe (some calling for nuts and/or canned pineapple), but I like to keep it simple
1 box white or yellow cake mix (I used French vanilla white, I think)
1 stick butter, room temp
2 cans cherry pie filling (I used one can of regular and one can of low-sugar)
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix together the box of cake mix with the butter until fine and crumbly (I used my stand mixer). Reserve one cup of this mixture and set aside. Dump the rest of the mixture into a 9×13″ pan. Press the mixture into the pan gently in an even layer (you’re making a crust). Bake for 15 minutes then remove from the oven. Don’t turn off the oven!
Dump the pie filling over the crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining cake mix mixture evenly over the top of the pie filling and return the pan to the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the crumbly stuff is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Serve with ice cream!
* You can use different kinds of fruit pie filling
* A friend of mine wants to try using frozen fruit to make it less sweet. I think this might be tasty, but I wonder if it’d be too watery?
Looks great! I’m going to try this for a dessert at my next dinner party.
Frozen fruit: I agree about the too watery…especially seeing as the original recipe doesn’t call for any added liquid…but how much syrup is in the canned cherries?
I thought my mother in law was the only person who made this cake! My husband loves the idea of the crust on the bottom. If it wasn’t 8 million degrees in our apartment I would have surprised him with one tomorrow.
Get your lazy ass in the kitchen and start pitting some REAL cherries!
What about just fresh fruit with some sugar (and a little cornstarch?) mixed in? That way you can determine the sweetness level yourself. Of course, that would be a slightly less lazy cake (esp. if you had to pit cherries)…
I know dump cake as a favorite camping recipe for a dutch oven. My recipe calls for 7-Up instead of water. Lord, the sweetness! http://www.flickr.com/photos/hambox/489554761/
I add a large can of crushed pineapple to the two cans of cherries. Gives a very nice sweet and tangy flavor.
My recipe is even lazier, though. Just dump the cherries and pineapple into a 9×13 pyrex. Cut open yellow cake mix and sprinkle over the top. Cut butter into pats and drop on top. Then bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, until golden brown.
You can cook some sugar, water, and cornstarch in a pot on the stove until it condenses into a syrup, then combine it with the fresh or frozen fruit. Sure, this is takes a little longer than using canned fruit, but you can control the sugar that way. An old Bisquick cookbook I used to have had a recipe for this method, and it worked really well in crumbles.
So are the cans of cherry pie filling the 14-15 oz. size or the gigantic 28-30 oz. size? I am hoping you meant the smaller size because that’s what I bought 🙂
This looks so great! My mouth is watering!
Becky
I always forget about these dump cake recipes. I tried a peach one once, not bad at all. Especially with vanilla ice cream as you mentioned. yum!
I am loving these recipe tweakers. People, we are talking about a box of cake mix and a stick of butter. Mating with two cans of pie filling will not offend their sensibilities. This sounds just like “Cherry Dessert” that my mother used to make. She added almond extract for exotic appeal, and it was quite yummy! This sounds like a fun one to make with kids.
I make dump cake often. I use pineapples w/the cherries. I haven’t tried mixing the cake mix with butter first. Also, I haven’t had ice cream with it…must give it a shot. 🙂
Thank for the recipe,
Sara
Yum!
And AWWWW! One of my earliest memories of you is running into you outside Dwinelle Hall. You were about to eat your lunch: a Hostess cherry pie and a diet coke. And that’s when I knew you were a special girl!
Mariko, it was so good! thanks so much. I was just about to ask for the recipe, too… awesome.
Hmmm, sounds very June Cleaver but I do keep recommending to all your Cranberry Streusel bars poasted last Winter. And I just made the Apricot-Cherry Crumble from teh Greens Cookbook and it was yummy! Hope you’re doing well!