Apple Dump Cake with Fresh Apples
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If you need an easy fall dessert recipe, look no further than this delicious apple dump cake. Made with fresh apples, this dump cake recipe is so simple and yet loaded with flavor! Serve it warm with your favorite vanilla ice cream for a delicious fall dessert!
My apple tree is currently loaded with Cortland apples and so I’m currently on the hunt for apple recipes to use up some of my fall harvest. I will of course be making some applesauce and apple butter but there are so many other great ways to use fresh apples. Right now I have apples coming out of my ears so I really appreciate any and all easy apple recipes, especially recipes like this quick apple dump cake recipe.
Apple Dump Cake with Fresh Apples Ingredients
To make this apple dump cake with cake mix, you’ll need the following simple ingredients:
- fresh apples: I used Cortland but you can use your favorite baking apple such as Granny Smith, McIntosh, Jonagold, Fuji, Braeburn, Pink Lady, etc.
- brown sugar: to add some depth of flavor
- cinnamon: a must for apple cakes
- chopped pecans: optional but adds a lot of flavor and a nice crunch. Walnuts can also be used
- yellow cake mix: Can also use a butter recipe yellow cake mix, white cake mix or spice cake mix
- butter: salted or unsalted, whichever you prefer
How to Make a Dump Cake
Not sure how to make a dump cake? They are actually ridiculously easy as their name implies. All you really need is some fruit, a cake mix and some butter to make a dump cake. But I really like to add extra flavor so I tossed my apples with brown sugar and cinnamon to really bring out those fall flavors we all know and love.
Because this dessert is a bit sweet, I like to add fresh pecans for more texture and a break from the sweetness. It adds so much flavor to this apple dump cake! But if you don’t like nuts or just don’t have them on hand, you can definitely leave them out.
Don’t Mix It
The key to any recipe for dump cake is to sprinkle a cake mix over your fruit and add butter. This recipe uses melted butter and since there is no mixing of the batter, you’ll want to make sure you drizzle your butter slowly over the top to get as much of the cake mix covered as possible. Otherwise you can end up with little powered spots of cake mix on the top of your cake.
A dump cake might not be the prettiest dessert when it comes out of the oven, but it sure tastes great!
Apple Dump Cake Substitution:
Extra short on time? Skip the fresh apples, brown sugar and cinnamon and instead add a can of apple pie filling to the bottom of your cake! You can also substitute that with any pie filling you like as well. 
This apple dump cake is meant to be served warm out of the oven and tastes amazing with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream. You can either cut it into pieces like I did if your cake can hold up, or you can simply scoop it out with a spoon.
Dump Cake Recipe Tip:
Your dump cake will taste best shortly after being baked. Just out of the oven the top will have a flaky, more firm texture. As it sits the apples with break that down and within just a few hours of being covered, the top will become very soft and moist. We had it both ways and while I prefer it fresh out of the oven, my kids liked it a bit more after it became more soft and cake-like later in the day. Both were great but something to keep in mind. I would try to polish this cake off within 24 hours avoid mushiness.
Does dump cake need to be refrigerated?
Yes, this apple dump cake should be refrigerated if it’s not going to be consumed within a few hours of baking. To store this cake in the refrigerator, first allow it to cool to room temperature after baking and cover it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or transfer it to an airtight container. A properly refrigerated apple dump cake can typically be kept for up to 3-4 days, but keep in mind with the fresh apples, it may be less.
Apple Dump Cake
This apple dump cake with fresh apples is so easy to make! Just a few added ingredients to a yellow cake mix including cinnamon, brown sugar and chopped pecans give it the perfect fall flavor. Serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream for an easy fall dessert!
Ingredients
- 5 cups chopped apples peeled
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1 box yellow cake mix I used Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ yellow cake mix
- 1 cup butter melted (two sticks)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
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Stir together chopped apples, brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread over bottom of pan.
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Top with layer of pecans, then sprinkle dry cake mix over apples.
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Slowly drizzle melted butter over top to cover as much as possible.
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Bake 42 to 46 minutes or until golden brown.
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Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Recipe Notes
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Hope you love this apple dump cake recipe as much as we do! Makes a great addition to any Sunday dinner or even a super simple Thanksgiving dessert!
Easy Apple Recipes
On the hunt for more easy apple recipes for fall? Try these fried apples, instant pot apple cinnamon oatmeal, apple streusel muffins, pull apart apple bread or these campfire baked apples!
Dump cake recipes are so easy. Love this fresh apple version!
This dessert is so yummy! I am not a person who enjoys baking, however my husband has a sweet tooth as big as Montana. Buying bakery items is so expensive! This was super easy.
I only had red delicious apples, I sliced them thin instead of chunks, didn’t have pecans, which I love, but it is so good with a cup of coffee. Thanks!
This is absolutely incredible! Dessert doesn’t get much easier!
Love how easy this comes together and the flavors are sublime. So good!
This dessert is now my favorite!! We haven’t had it with pecans in it yet because I forgot them.. oops. But even without them it is sooooo tasety and really easy!
With COVID 19 I’m working less hours and received a CARE package from a local food pantry. This recipe was begging to be made! Two bags of apples and cake mix were included. My girls easily got this in the oven, minus pecans, in no time. Turned out GREAT! Many thanks ?
Delicious apple dump cake! Thank you for sharing this!
Do you use all green granny smith apples?
You can use any apple that works well for baking. Green apples would be delicious but you could do a combination as well!
Can you substitute white cake mix for the yellow?
Absolutely! You can get creative with the cake mix flavor.
Try the Butter Pecan cake mix. It will knock your socks off. It almost tastes like caramel was added. I add caramel to top the ice cream. Yum! Thanks for sharing this variation.
Hi. THANK YUO for this great recipe. I LOVE apples and have been looking for an apple cake recipe that sounded good. This dump cake is delicious. Have you ever tried using TWO cake mixes? If so, did you double the amount of melted butter? We’d like more cake with the apples.
Bobbie
Great recipe. I substituted Spice cake mix and it’s delicious.
I used Honeycrisp apples, chopped pecans and a Butter Pecan cake mix. It was amazingly easy to make and delicious!!
If you want to use less melted butter, melt 6-8 TBLS (or 1 stick) of butter and mix with the cake mix; then drop blobs of cake mix over the fruit. Tastes just as good, no dry spots and LESS butter.
Absolutely the best tasting apple dump cake I have ever made. Fresh apples make this recipe!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this delightful treat!!!!!!!
Not enough butter so way too much powder left on top. Also the layer was way too uneven with peaks and valley. So I had to listen to my husband tell me how he was right and I should have made this in a Dutch oven and he thought it didn’t sound right.
I’ve gotten great feedback on this recipe and I’m sorry you weren’t happy with the results. I haven’t run into issues with uneven peaks or powder on the top. But one tip to avoid any “powder” issues is to mix the cake mix with the melted butter before sprinkling it on top. I hope you give it another try! If you do, let me know how it goes! 🙂
I made this cake today for the first time. Since there are only two people in my house I cut the recipe in half and used an 8×8 pan. This dump cake was amazing. The only change I made to the recipe was to brown the butter when I melted it.
Thanks for the fresh apple version! I’m not a fan of canned apple filling.
Can i leave the skins on?
If you prefer, sure!