Strawberry Dump Cake has only a few ingredients and is easily layered aka “dumped” in a cake pan and baked. No stirring and no mixing bowl required!
So. Dump cake. Gotta say I’m not a fan of the name. For obvious reasons, right? (Or do I have a gross mind?!)
I remember my sister making a fruit salad for some family thing awhile back and telling everyone it was called Dump Salad (because you basically dump cans of fruit all into one bowl). I have 3 brothers and not ONE of them had anything nice to say, lol! They thought that was the worst name ever for a salad. Ha!
Anyway, here I am sharing Dump Cake with you. But I promise it’s delicious, otherwise duh. I wouldn’t share it with you. So no jokes about the name, please. 😉
And to clarify, the name Dump Cake means that you take the ingredients and dump them into a pan and bake. It’s the wonderful thing about this cake!
You only need one 9×13 inch pan. No bowls. Yay! I cut my strawberries into chunks and placed them right into the pan as I cut them. Then I drizzled the sugar (Truvia) and the cinnamon with the strawberries and tossed them together using my hands.
Pour a dry cake mix (I used sugar free yellow) over the strawberries and drizzle some melted butter and coconut oil over the whole thing. DON’T stir! Pop it into the oven and 30 minutes later – BAM! Awesome cake!
We love this topped with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream. It really is an easy and delicious dessert and one that always does well in a pinch!
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh strawberries sliced
- 1/4 cup Truvia Baking Blend or 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 15.25-oz sugar free yellow cake mix
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Pour cut strawberries in 9x13" pan. Sprinkle with Truvia (or sugar) and cinnamon. Toss with hands and spread out into an even layer.
- Pour dry cake mix evenly over strawberries.
- Melt butter and coconut oil together and pour evenly over dry cake mix.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until top of cake is golden brown and cooked through.
- Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy!
Dump cakes have always intrigued me! Perhaps I will start with this one and then takeover the dump cake world! Muahahaha!
Ohhhh…take me with you! lol! Thanks for stopping by!
I make this with blueberries — but no sugar required! Just fill the 9 x 13 2/3 full with berries, cake over the top then butter. As it bakes the berries pop and their juice bubbles up and mixes with the cake and butter. SO good!
LOVE the idea of using blueberries, Julia!! Can’t wait to try it!
I love the simplicity of this cake, Jen! It’s perfect for when you need to put a dessert together real fast. And the fresh strawberries are making me hungry!
Thanks Jen!! Have a great weekend!
Thank you Jen and have a great weekend!
Looks nice! Especially served with ice cream.. 🙂
Haha you’re not the only one that thinks that about dump cake! 🙂 A strawberry version – perfect!! So pretty too.
Will this recipe work with a regular cake mix (not sugar free)? Thanks!
Hi Cheryl! It should work for a regular cake mix. I can’t wait for you to try it! Enjoy!
Can I use a substitute for the coconut oil?
Hi April! Yes, you can use all melted butter in place of coconut oil. Enjoy!
Sounds really good, esp. since berries are on sale locally. I like a dash of garam masala with my strawberries these days.
Super easy recipe and tastes wonderful! My husband has announced that it is his new favorite! Thank you!
Yay! I’m so happy he loved it! It really is such a quick and easy dessert. Thanks Janna!
I wanted to make 2 of these for a church dinner. It’s not as easy as it sounds, for me anyway. I used 4 c. frozen diced and peeled apples. I layered the cake mix over the apples, then poured the butter over the crust. I didn’t realize that every spot of dry cake mix had to be covered with the butter/oil. When I took it out of the oven at 30 minutes, it was golden brown except spots not covered, which were still powdery and dry. So I melted more and covered the dry spots and put in 15 more minutes. It looks good now. Now I’m baking the second, and to avoid the previous issue, I used double the butter/oil mix but still cake mix is not covered. It just seeps to the cracks and cannot really be spread over the entire layer. So not sure what will happen. I like the idea of the “dump cake” but it’s not as easy to make as the name leads to believe. Any suggestions for avoiding this next time?
Hi Veronica! I’m sorry you were having issues with the cake. 🙁 I think the top layer having few dry spots really depends on how juicy the fruit is you put on the bottom. I used fresh strawberries that were very ripe and the juices from them helped. Also, you can try sort of pouring the butter on and using a spatula to try and incorporate more butter on every part of the dry mix. I hope the second batch turned out better!
For other dump cakes I’ve made, I don’t melt the butter. I take very small slices of butter and spread the squares all over in a single layer on the top of the cake mix. For anyone having problems getting melted butter to cover all the mix, try this way.
I will try this next time for sure! Thanks Emilee!
the dry crumbly parts are the best part of a traditional dump cake. Makes it like a mock cobbler. Don’t worry about the dry powdery parts they are yummy and most dump cakes have them
I agree! Thank you for the comment!!
i want to make the strawberry dump cake but would like to substitute the butter/oil for applesauce or some other alternative. am i able to do that?
I’ve never tried substituting applesauce for butter. The butter is the only liquid, besides the juice from the berries so I’m not sure how it would turn out. If you do try it, will you let me know how it turns out? Thanks!
i was also wondering if i could use moist white cake in place for the yellow cake in the strawberry dump cake recipe.
Hi Leah, you can definitely use white cake mix instead of yellow!
ok, so i tried making the dump cake with applesauce, didn’t turn out so great, but still ok. what happened was the applesauce formed a thick layer over the cake so it was more like a thick layer of applesauce with some cake powder underneath. I’m really trying to stay away from butter/oils, so i know this sounds crazy but would water or melted sugar work? any advice you give would be great, and also if i absolutely MUST use oil, is coconut oil the best alternative? i know you mentioned in your recipe using half butter/half coconut oil.
can i use frozen strawberries? do i thaw out first or just use frozen?
I had sliced strawberries and added sugar and 1 tsp almond extract to be used for a strawberry shortcake recipe then I saw your much simpler recipe. It was delicious!! I had some blueberries in fridge so I also added it in the mix of strawberries!!
I don’t have coconut oil, can I make this without it?
Hi there! Yes, you can definitely sub out all butter or vegetable oil for the coconut oil. I hope this helps! Let me know how it turns out!
Can you use a mix of strawberries and raspberries?
Yes, you can!