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3-Ingredient Apple Dump Cake

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By Jessica Walker
Updated Sep 21, 2024
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Dump cakes became popular when cake mixes were introduced and are considered a classic American dessert. They usually contain fruit (traditionally pie filling), dry cake mix, and butter. As you can guess by their name, the ingredients are dumped into the pan without any mixing, which means getting this 3-ingredient apple cake into the oven can be done with little to no effort at all.

The consistency of dump cakes is more like a fruit cobbler or fruit crisp than they are cake-like. Other ingredients such as nuts and spices can be added for endless variations and to make it your own. They are heavenly served warm with ice cream or whipped cream on top.

Because of its simplicity to get it to the oven, it’s a terrific end to any weeknight meal or whenever you are in the mood for a sweet treat! It also feeds a crowd, so it’s a great one to bring to a potluck. If someone you love is feeling ill, this comforting recipe will bring them a lot of cheer while being quick and easy for you to throw together. This homey, casual dessert with fresh apples is great to serve anytime of the year.

How to Make 3 Ingredient Apple Dump Cake

Look at how easy it is to make our apple dump cake with cake mix! These simple steps will give you general guidance to put it together, but refer to the recipe for all the specifics, so your easy apple dump cake will turn out perfectly:

Spray the Pan

Use cooking spray to spray the bottoms and sides of your 13x9 pan, so none of the tasty morsels of this dessert will stick to it.

Chop the Apples

We like to peel our apples before chopping them, as the peels can turn brown and be tough to eat when baked. But that doesn’t mean you have to! Skip the peeling if you like and chop the apples into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle them evenly in the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle with Cake Mix

Open the bag of dry cake mix and sprinkle it evenly over the apples (and the bare spots between and around the apples in the pan), so there is one even layer without large clumps of cake mix.

Drizzle with Melted Butter

Drizzle butter over the cake mix, moistening as much as the cake mix as you can without any mixing. This will ensure the baked dump cake turns out moist and buttery delicious.

Bake and Serve

Bake the dump cake until it’s golden brown. Cool it until it’s warm (about 30 minutes), spoon it onto plates or into bowls, using a large serving spoon. Top it with ice cream or whipped cream and serve.

How to Serve Apple Dump Cake

Our 3-ingredient apple dump cake recipe is out of this world, when served warm and topped with ice cream or whipped cream. The dairy notes of both ice cream and whipped cream really make the fresh apple flavor shine through. Our favorite choice for ice cream is vanilla, but butter pecan or birthday cake ice cream would also be tasty choices.

If you want to go for broke, ice cream toppings like caramel or salted caramel or a sprinkling of chopped nuts would be a fabulous addition to this dessert…on top of the ice cream, of course.

When is the best time to enjoy dump cake? Whenever it’s offered! We love it on a crisp fall evening, after a bowl full of chili. Or keep the oven on to make it after serving an easy sheet pan dinner, for a memorable meal without a lot of effort.

More About This Recipe

  • Nothing says fall like an apple cake! All you need to bake this cake are three simple ingredients: apples, a box of Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ Yellow Cake Mix and butter. This apple dump cake might be the easiest way to enjoy the apple harvest, but if you’re hungry for more apple recipes, Betty’s got you covered with her array of apple cake recipes, plus all the instructions for making perfect cake.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best apples to use?

Here is some guidance for choosing the best apples for this dessert. Your selected apples can range from tart to sweet, but they should hold up to baking, without becoming mealy or mushy. Try Braeburn, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, or McIntosh. If there is one of these varieties that are on sale, go for those! Or, if you’ve recently visited a farmer’s market or apple orchard, nothing beats the flavor of freshly picked apples.

This recipe was created specifically for fresh apples. The bake time is suited to cooking fresh apples until they are perfectly tender. You wouldn’t want to use dried apples for this recipe, as there isn’t enough moisture in the dessert to reconstitute the fruit, so it becomes tender to eat. Using canned apples also isn’t recommended as they will be overly soft when baked with the texture of the “cake” portion being dry, since canned apples aren’t as moist as fresh apples.

Are you ready to try more dump cake recipes?

Candy Bar Dump Cake is an amazing way to satisfy your chocolate and candy craving.

Mixed Berry Dump Cake is a sweet treat that’s berry delicious--made with berries at their peak of flavor.

How to store apple dump cake

Leftover apple dump cake can be left in the baking pan, so you don’t disturb the topping by spooning it into another container. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days. To serve, spoon servings into microwavable bowls. Cover and microwave on medium-high (70%) 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until warm.

Freezing isn’t recommended, as the apples will dry out. This cake is so quick to put together, keep the ingredients on hand so you can get one in the oven at a moment’s notice.

3-Ingredient Apple Dump Cake

  • Prep Time 10 min
  • Total 60 min
  • Servings 12
  • Ingredients 3
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
  • Step 
    2
    Spread chopped apples evenly in bottom of pan. Top with dry cake mix; gently shake pan to distribute evenly. Pour melted butter over top, tilting pan to cover as much of the top with butter as possible.
  • Step 
    3
    Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown, mostly dry on top and bubbly around edges. Cool 30 minutes before serving. Store loosely covered.

Nutrition

260 Calories
12g Total Fat
1g Protein
36g Total Carbohydrate
20g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving
Calories
260
Calories from Fat
110
Total Fat
12g
19%
Saturated Fat
8g
38%
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
30mg
10%
Sodium
240mg
10%
Potassium
70mg
2%
Total Carbohydrate
36g
12%
Dietary Fiber
1g
6%
Sugars
20g
Protein
1g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
8%
8%
Vitamin C
2%
2%
Calcium
8%
8%
Iron
4%
4%
Exchanges:
1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 2 1/2 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
2 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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