This ‘Lazy’ Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake Is the Ultimate 5-Minute Dessert
Dump the ingredients into a pan, bake, and enjoy.
When my sweet tooth acts up, I scour my pantry for ingredients to make the perfect dessert. As a home cook, getting creative with what I have on hand comes naturally — but I admit I’ve resorted to ice cream more than a few times. While I love a good sundae, I often crave a warm dessert — especially in the fall. That’s why I was excited to try a cherry pineapple dump cake recipe that’s supposed to take less than five minutes to prepare. Here’s how it went.
Why do they call it dump cake?
Dump cake is named quite literally: Most recipes call for dumping canned fruit filling, cake mix, and butter into a baking pan. From there, the mixture is baked until it’s golden brown and bubbling. The origins of this simple (and practically fool-proof) dessert can be traced back 40 years. “The earliest reference Food Timeline researchers have found to the dish known as dump cake … is from a Duncan Hines holiday baking brochure published in 1980,” Denise O’Toole Kelly wrote in her Daytona Beach News-Journal column Everybody Eats.
A dessert that requires no measuring, mixing bowls, or dirtying up whisks? That’s a sure-fire way to win me over.
How do you make a dump cake?
There are many versions of dump cake online that use various types of canned fruit and boxed cake mix. The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for cherry pineapple dump cake requires just four ingredients — and you can swap white cake mix for yellow or chocolate if you want a unique twist.
Ingredients:
- One (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
- One (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple
- One (18 ounce) box white cake mix
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Dump cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple into 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Stir together.
- Sprinkle cake mix over top of fruit. Slice butter into 12 tablespoons and distribute evenly over surface of cake mix.
- Bake until top is brown and bubbly, 45 minutes to one hour. Serve with whipped cream.
My Experience Making This Recipe
I’ll get right to it: The dump cake was fantastic! The cherry pie filling did a lot of heavy lifting, adding sweetness and pieces of fruit to the cake. By contrast, the crushed pineapple ensured that the dessert wasn’t too sweet by providing it with a hint of acidity. I used yellow cake mix for the topping, which gave the dessert a vanilla flavor. The recipe was so easy, I know it’ll become a weekly go-to of mine.
Not a fan of cherries or pineapple, but love a simple dessert? Check out these equally delicious recipes for “lazy” peach cobbler, easy crème brûlée, and two-ingredient chocolate mousse!
