Not too long ago I decided to make dessert one evening. I had a homemade yellow cake mix which was just the dry ingredients for my gluten-free yellow cake. I didn’t want to make a plain yellow cake, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it.
I turned to my Facebook page and Twitter. The people there are always to helpful and full of ideas. I asked them for their favorite way to dress up a yellow cake mix, and from the ideas that were given I settled on a dump cake.
It was good. Really good. And it hit the spot. The whole family enjoyed it.
I imagine this would work with any yellow cake mix or recipe, but I haven’t tried it with any others so experiment at your own risk.
Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 1 gluten-free yellow or white cake mix or homemade cake mix below
Homemade Cake Mix
- 2 1/4 cup gluten-free flour mix
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
Additional Ingredients Needed
- 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, with juice
- 1 can (20 ounces) sliced peaches, with juice
- 1 1/2 sticks butter or substitute
- whipped cream or 1 can full fat coconut milk, chilled (optional)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix ingredients, if making from scratch. Grease the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
- Dump in the pineapple.
- Cut the peaches into chunks and dump them in too. Don’t forget the juice from both cans. Spread the fruit evenly in the bottom of the pan.
- Dump the cake mix (or above combined ingredients) on top of the fruit and spread it out evenly.
- Cut the butter into chunks and place it on top of the cake mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees 30 – 40 minutes or until the cake tests done.
- For dairy free whipped cream, skim the fat from a can of chilled coconut milk and whip it (the fat, not the milk) with a whisk attachment on a hand mixer until it’s the consistency of whipped cream.
- Spoon the dump cake into serving dishes, add a little whipped cream, and enjoy!
Courses Dessert
Linda,
Thanks for the quick, easy dessert recipe. It looks delicious!
Cindy
This cake looks very fun! I can just imagine those flavors together- yum!
That’s a really funny name for a cake, but it looks like it tastes great!
Thank you SO much for including the alternate ingredients to a cake mix. I have multiple food allergies, so I am a bit of a purist. (Luckily) I grew up cooking and developing recipes – – almost all from scratch, including making my own margarine, “upside down pizza,” ketchup and musard, and I am not a fan of “cooking” that uses cake mixes, etc., as most mixes contain ingredients I cannot have or are way too expensive. I do, however, confess to routine and intermittant cravings for the Dromedary {gingerbread} and Jiffy {cornbread & cake} mixes of my youth – – before I became full-blown food allergic.
This is also due to my having multiple food allergies, which makes buying prepared mixes very difficult. I did google “recipes, homemade gluten free cake mixes,” though and I got a lot of hits! So when I am in the mood, I mix them up to sit for when I “need” a cake mix.
I also buy Ener-G Foods Tapioca Bread by the case using Amazon.com’s Subscribe & Save program, where I get a better price than in the local markets.
Frankly, I have had too many bread-making attempt flops to try them anymore. Add, I LOVE my Tapioca Bread! I use it for pizza sandwiches, Toast & PB, garlic bread, etc.
Thank you, thank you!!
I first encountered “dump cake” several years ago when my mother-in-law made this quick, easy dessert. She used crushed pineapple and cherries! I have made this using apples with spice cake mix and pumpkin, too!
Martha White is making Gluten Free Corn Bread Mix , Blueberry Muffin Mix, and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix. I have tried them all and for a quick fix they are pretty good. You can find them In the Baking section of your grocery store located close to the Jiffy Mix. Martha White has been around since 1899. Good luck to you, Sandra
This looks delicious. I love the combination of flavors plus I can never have too many cake recipes. Thanks
Great picture. Dump cake was my most favorite find!
So funny you posted this today. I tried to make a dump cake yesterday and only used 1 can of fruit, not as much butter and cooked it longer than I should have waiting for it to brown…. It wasnt a big Hit but it wasn’t too bad. I’ll have to try it again with your way it sounds way yummer! Love the coconut milk idea. Do you think it would turn out if I poured a little coconut milk over top before baking, just to cut down on the amount of butter? Looking forward to trying again 🙂
Kris, I modified my post a bit to make it clear that it is the coconut fat you whip and not the milk. I’m not sure if you read it the wrong way, but someone else did. I think I would substitute a fat for some of the butter rather than a liquid. How about coconut oil?
I have made the “regular version” of dump cake in the past. This looks great! I can’t wait to try it.
Yummmmmmmy! I cannot wait to try this one! And gluten-free means I can really enjoy it!!
Looks scrumptious, Linda! Dump cake used to be all the rage. So happy you made a gf version for everyone! 🙂 And, love the you gave an alternative to boxed cake mix. 😉
Hugs,
Shirley
You know, I’ve never made a dump cake before – gluten-free or otherwise. They’ve always intrigued me, but apparently not enough to do something about it. 🙂 This sounds good though, with the pineapple…yum!
Hope you made it. It is divine.
What a terrific fruity cake this is!! I love the apart flavours of pineapple & peaches in here!
That must taste wonderfully & so fresh!
Another must make of yours!!
This is a nice way to make every bodys age ole favorite. With a little more creativity like a can of fruit cocktail and raisens.
Love the dump cake recipe!!!!!!especially the cf recipe. Thank you what a wonderful suprise birthday cake!!!!!
Thank You for sharing this recipe…it is delicious and very easy to make!!! Mine took approx. an hour to bake up…but worth the wait! My mother-in-law has requested that I make one for my father-in-laws 96th birthday as they are both gluten-free also. He will enjoy it!
I used my crockpot to bake a gluten free peach dump cake this week. It was a great success, like a cross between a peach cobbler and a steamed pudding!
The crockpot keeps the gluten free cake moist and delicious!
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Sandra asks…
“1-gluten free cake mix” Would this be Gluten Free Betty Crocker Mix which makes only a one layer cake (8 or 9 inch pan) or King Arthur and Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Cake mix which makes a two layer cake.
I can’t wait to make this dump cake it sounds refreshing
That’s a good question! The cake mix should make a two layer cake.
Thank you for the GF cake mix recipe as well as the dump cake recipe. I also appreciate your reply to Sandra Fischer’s question about using a one layer or a two layer cake mix if using a commercially prepared mix. I always wondered about recipes using a GF cake mix as most only make one layer cakes.
For Kris, who asked about replacing some of the butter with coconut milk, usually, (not always!) an equal measure of applesauce, pear sauce or other fruit sauce can replace some of the fats in most recipes. It would definitely be worth the experiment to try it, especially for those of us who must be careful of fat intake. Even if it doesn’t work well, the dessert will still taste good.
I’ll definitely be making this for the weekend, with applesauce to replace some of the butter!
I want to try this with fresh apples and a can of whole berry cranberry sauce ( or make my own sauce and use).
The instructions say to bake until it tests done. Exactly what does this mean? I didn’t think you could use a cake tester because of all the fruit syrup in the bottom. Does it brown on top? Please explain. I have it in the oven now. Thank you.
You can use a cake tester or tooth pick to test just the cake part on top.