I can’t get enough pumpkin dessert recipes this time of the year. Some of my favorites include homemade pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin gooey butter cake and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. This pumpkin dump cake is so very easy to make, and with just minutes of prep you end up with an amazing two layered dessert that’s perfect for feeding a crowd.
Pumpkin Dump Cake Ingredients
To make this pumpkin dump cake recipe, you will need pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, yellow cake mix, chopped pecans and butter. For more fall dessert recipes checkout my caramel apple dip, pear custard pie and apple cinnamon cake.
How Do You Make Pumpkin Dump Cake?
To make this pumpkin dump cake, first preheat the oven and coat a baking pan with cooking spray. Next, place the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Stir all of the wet ingredients together. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the baking dish. Next, mix together the dry cake mix and pecans, then sprinkle it all over the pumpkin layer. Place thin slices of butter all over the top of the cake mix layer, then add another sprinkle of pecans. Bake until the cake is golden brown and the top is set. Cool for at least 15 minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Pumpkin Dump Cake
Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pie filling. Pie filling contains other ingredients and will not set the same way. You can buy canned pumpkin puree or you can make your own pumpkin puree. This cake can be served warm, cold or at room temperature. To get neat slices, you’ll want to chill it in the fridge before cutting. Otherwise just use a big serving spoon and scoop it onto plates. You can reheat cold slices of cake for 20 seconds in the microwave if you like to eat it warm. Make sure that the butter is sliced thin so that you can cover the entire surface area of the pan with butter. If you’re a major pecan fan, you can add a sprinkle over the top for garnish before you serve your pumpkin dump cake. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice in the house, feel free to make your own pumpkin pie spice by mixing together 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon with 1/4 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves and ground allspice.
Flavor Variations
This pumpkin dump cake recipe is delicious as-is, but you can customize some of the ingredients to suit your tastes.
Cake: Instead of yellow cake mix, try using vanilla cake mix, spice cake mix or ginger cake mix. Filling: You can swap out the pumpkin puree for sweet potato puree for a different flavor. Toppings: Feel free to add more toppings to your cake before you serve it. Some great options include whipped cream, toasted coconut, chocolate chips, crystallized ginger or toffee bits. Nuts: Not a fan of pecans? Try using chopped walnuts or almonds instead. Chocolate: Feel free to stir in 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the pumpkin layer. You may want to dust your chocolate chips in flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the baking dish.
I am not the biggest fan of pumpkin pie, so I often serve pumpkin dump cake instead for Thanksgiving. It bakes up like a pumpkin cobbler. I think this cake is much easier to make than pie, which is also a bonus. As soon as the calendar hits September, I stock up on pumpkin puree so that we can enjoy this pumpkin dump cake for the colder months to come.
Pumpkin Dump Cake Video
