Pioneer Woman Dump Cake

Pioneer Woman dump cake from Ree Drummond layers canned cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple under dry cake mix with sliced butter and margarine baked at 350°F. And the dessert serves 12 at approximately 350 calories per serving in about 1 hour and 15 minutes, since there is no mixing and no bowls to wash.

Most cakes cream butter into sugar and fold in sifted flour, but Ree skips every one of those steps and sprinkles dry cake mix straight from the box over the canned fruit. So the butter melts during baking and seeps down through the powder, which hydrates the mix from the top while the fruit bubbles up from below and creates a cobbler-like texture in between.

Distributing the sliced butter and margarine evenly across the entire surface of the dry cake mix is the step that determines whether the topping bakes golden or stays powdery. And if you clump the fat in the center, the edges of the mix never hydrate and you end up with dry, raw powder around the sides of the dish.

Source: The Pioneer Woman (thepioneerwoman.com), verified from source content

Pioneer Woman Dump Cake

Recipe by medshi8Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Calories

350

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Cherry pie filling and undrained crushed pineapple stir together in the bottom of a baking dish before an entire box of dry cake mix sprinkles over the top. Then sliced margarine and butter distribute across the surface, and 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F turns everything golden and bubbly.

Ingredients

• 1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

• 1 can (15 oz.) crushed pineapple

• 1 box (about 18 oz.) yellow or white cake mix

• 1 stick margarine

• 1/2 stick butter

• For serving:

• Whipped cream

Directions

• Preheat the oven: Heat to 350°F.
• Dump the fruit: Then pour the cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple into a baking dish.
• Stir together: Once both cans are in, stir the fruit together to combine.
• Add the cake mix: Then sprinkle the entire box of dry cake mix evenly over the top of the fruit.
• Slice the fats: Once the mix is spread, slice the margarine and butter into thin pieces.
• Distribute over the surface: Then lay the sliced pieces evenly across the entire surface of the cake mix
• Bake until golden: Once covered, bake at 350°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour until bubbly and the top is golden.
• Serve with whipped cream: Then scoop onto plates and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

FAQs

Why does the recipe use both margarine and butter?

Margarine has a higher water content than butter, so as it melts it helps hydrate the dry cake mix more evenly across the surface. And the half stick of butter adds the rich, dairy flavor that margarine alone cannot carry.

But if you only have butter, use 1 1/2 sticks total and the cake still turns out well. Since the fruit underneath provides most of the moisture, the fat on top is more about browning and flavor than about hydrating the mix completely.

Can I use a different fruit filling?

Any canned pie filling works as a direct swap, and blueberry, apple, or peach are the most common alternatives. And the crushed pineapple stays the same regardless of which filling you choose, because its juice is what drives the moisture up through the dry mix during baking.

But if you swap the pineapple out too, make sure the replacement fruit has enough liquid to hydrate the cake mix from below. Since the peach cobbler uses fresh fruit with a biscuit topping instead, that recipe is the better choice if you want to skip canned ingredients entirely.

Do I need to mix the cake mix into the fruit?

No, and that is the entire point of a dump cake. The dry mix sits on top untouched, and the butter melts down through it during the bake to create a crumbly, golden crust. And if you stir the mix into the fruit, you lose that crispy top layer and the texture turns gummy instead of cobbler-like.

So resist the urge to combine, and trust that 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F lets the melting fat and bubbling fruit do all the work. Since every ingredient goes in as-is without any whisking or folding, the name “dump cake” describes the technique perfectly.

What should I serve this with?

Ree suggests whipped cream on the source page, and vanilla ice cream is the other classic pairing since the cold cream melts into the hot fruit. And a dusting of powdered sugar on top adds a visual finish without extra sweetness.

For a full Pioneer Woman dessert spread at a cookout, this pairs well alongside the blackberry cobbler since one is fruit-forward with a cake topping and the other has a batter-style base. But keep the rest of the table simple, because two fruit desserts already cover the sweet side of any gathering.

How should I store leftovers?

Cover the dish with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for up to 3 days, since the fruit filling contains enough acid to hold up well chilled. And reheating individual portions in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes crisps the topping back up better than microwaving.

But the cake mix topping softens as it sits in the fridge, because the fruit moisture keeps absorbing into it. So eat the crunchiest portions on day one, and expect the texture to shift more toward a soft cobbler by day two.