This apple spice dump cake dessert recipe is a great way for home bakers to celebrate the fall season! This easy fall cake can be put together in just minutes. The best part? Dump cakes are perfect for those who have little baking experience or time on their hands, as they require no frosting or fussing with complicated layers. Plus- this apple spice version of the classic dessert contains only 3 ingredients!
If you love easy-to-make recipes that use common ingredients that you might have in your pantry, this recipe is exactly what you need in your life this fall season. We used two cans of apple pie filling, butter, spice cake mix, and the results were fantastic! Enjoy this dump cake warm, out of the oven with some fresh whipped topping, caramel drizzle, or vanilla ice cream for the BEST kind of easy treat!
Before starting this recipe, you’ll want to verify that you have the following ingredients:
- Canned Apple Pie Filling – TWO 20-ounce sized cans. We purchased ours at Dollar Tree for $1 per can. It was pretty good and great amount of moisture to absorb some of the cake mix.
- 15.25-ounce Spice Cake Mix – This is the top layer of the dump cake. You may recall the box sizes being 18.25, but manufacturers recently cut back 3 ounces on mostly all national brands.
- Butter – You will need 12 tablespoons or 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter frozen for at least one hour for best results.
- Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon adds a classic flavor to the cake, but is optional for lightly sprinkling on the apple pie filling layer.
Equipment and Supplies Needed
We used the following equipment and supplies to make this recipe. Items that are optional or can be substituted will be noted.
- 11 x 13 pan – to bake your dump cake in.
- Nonstick spray – to spray the inside of your baking pan. *optional
- Knife & cutting board – for slicing your butter pats.
- Rubber Spatula – to spread your ingredients.
- Can opener – to open any cans that might not have a tab.
- Oven – Adjusted to the center rack position to bake your dump cake in.
How to Get the Perfect Dump Cake
Ever make a dump cake that came out powdery and less than appealing? The reason being is because while this is called a dump cake, you really do need to do a little more than just dump it for best results.
After you add the spice cake mix over the apple base layer, you will want to take your wooden spoon and gently pat the juices into the cake mix. This will help it absorb the initial liquid so it prevents a dry top layer.
Another way to get the perfect dump cake is to evenly distribute the butter pads. Some recipes call for melted butter over the top of a dump cake, but this tends to be problematic because many areas will be left without butter and will be “powdery” even after baking for one hour.
A great tip for the butter step is to freeze your butter for at least 1 hour before carefully slicing it into thin pats. Additionally, you can also grate your butter while frozen. This will allow you to evenly sprinkle the butter over the entire dump cake. By spreading the butter over the cake mixture, your cake will bake up evenly to a golden-brown, bubbly texture and will not be powdery or dry.
Serving Suggestions
This Apple Spice Sump Cake would be delicious with the following variations or serving suggestions.
- Whipped Cream – Add a dollop of canned, or fresh real whipped cream or topping.
- Ice Cream – I love serving this with vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream.
- Candied Walnuts – This recipe is so delicious and helps to remove some of the “earthy” taste from plain walnuts. These would be delicious in-between the apple and cake mix layer.
- Caramel Sauce – While this would make this sweeter, a small drizzle of caramel sauce would be delicious over each portion.
Variations
Apples – You can also make this with homemade apple pie filling if you prefer to not use canned apples.
Cake Mix – If you prefer to not use spice cake mix, you can use golden vanilla, yellow, or white cake mix. This easy Apple Dump Cake uses yellow cake mix.
Butter – If you want to make this cake vegan, you can use butter substitute. Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Spice cake is said to be vegan.
Storage
If you want to store your Apple Spice Dump Cake simply follow the below instructions for best taste! While this recipe is best eaten the same day, warm out of the oven, you can enjoy it reheated.
Place any leftover apple dump cake in an airtight container with a lid once cooled. This will keep out any unwanted odors from ruining the flavor of the cake. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 day max for best taste and consistency. In my opinion, this is best tasting on day one when it it crunchy on top and has a cobbler-like texture, and taste.
If you want to prepare this in the morning before work for baking in the evening follow ALL the recipe instructions except for the baking step. Cover the cake tightly and store for up to 12 hours in the refrigerator before baking. Bake at the required temperature and time.
More Dump Cake Recipes to Try Today!
Recipe
Follow the recipe below to make Apple Spice Dump Cake! This recipe makes 6 SERVINGS, but you can adjust the recipe card for other serving sizes.
Apple Spice Apple Dump Cake
Equipment
- 11 x 13 pan
- oven (adjusted to the center rack position)
- rubber spatula
- can opener
- cutting board & knife
Ingredients
- 40 ounces canned apple pie filling (2 cans)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon *optional
- 15.25 ounces Spice Cake Mix
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter sliced into thin pads
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 11 x 9 baker with nonstick spray.
- Dump both cans of apples into the greased pan and spread them. Sprinkle cinnamon evenly over apples.
- Sprinkle on cake mix over apples, and gently pat into the apple mixture.
- Add sliced butter pats to the top of the cake evenly.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. The top of the cake will be firm, bubbly, and golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!
This was tasty. We love cinnamon, so I did sprinkle quite a bit over the apples before adding the cake mix. I heeded the advice of making sure to press the cake mix down onto the apple filling quite well, and was glad I did. Having said that, there were still several “powdery” spots in the crust. I used pats of butter (not melted and poured on top) as directed, and I think this was good. The crust was nice and crispy on top – after a baking time of 55 minutes. We enjoyed this with whipped cream on top.
I might experiment a bit next time, melting the butter and mixing it with the cake mix to moisten it completely – and then putting it on top of the apples…