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This Cherry Dump Cake has sweet cherry pie filling, a cheesecake layer and a buttery cake mix topping. Top with a scoop of ice cream for the easiest, yummiest dessert!!
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The first time my hubby gave this a try, his first comment was “Kelsey, you need to put this on the blog STAT.” And I agreed.
You guys….this stuff is unreal. And if you’re looking for a simple dessert to impress, stop looking because this easy dump cake recipe is THE ONE.
If you’ve tried my Easy Cherry Cobbler, this one is similar, but I think I might like it even better! This Cherry Dump Cake recipe has a cheesecake-like layer that makes it such a delicious dessert – easy enough for a weeknight but fancy enough for a special occasion!
Cherry Dump Cake Ingredients
This easy dessert has just six simple ingredients.
- Cherry Pie Filling – You could use blueberry or raspberry pie filling instead (or a combo!)
- Whipped Cream Cheese – Be sure to specifically get the “whipped” variety as it’s easier to stir than regular
- Granulated Sugar
- One Large Egg
- Box of Cake Mix – I prefer yellow cake mix. White works just fine, too, but I tend to think yellow cake mix has a little more flavor
- Butter – I like to use salted butter in this recipe
How to make Cherry Dump Cake
There are just a few easy steps to making this dump cake.
First, you’ll dump the two cans of cherry pie filling into the bottom of a baking dish and set aside.
Next, you’ll mix the whipped cream cheese, egg and sugar until nice and smooth. Spoon it over the cherry filling.
Now you’ll sprinkle the box of yellow cake mix on top of the fruit and spread out to an even layer.
Drizzle the melted butter on top of the cake mix. You want to drizzle in a small stream to cover as much of the dry cake mix as possible. Voila – time to bake!!!
You’ll bake in a preheated oven until the topping is golden brown and the fruit filling is nice and bubbly.
How to Serve a Dump Cake
I like to serve any fruit dump cake warm with a scoop of ice cream!! However, it’s also delicious at room temperature or refrigerated.
How to Store A Dump Cake
Simply let the dump cake cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap (or place in an airtight container) and refrigerate for up to five days. When you’re ready to enjoy, you can eat it cold or warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave.
Variations of Cherry Dump Cake
Let’s just start by saying that this cherry dump cake with cream cheese is absolutely scrumptious as-is. However, if you don’t have any cherry pie filling or yellow cake mix, there are different options…
- Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake – Cherry pie filling, omit the cream cheese layer, sprinkle with 1/2 cup chocolate chips then a chocolate cake mix (or Devil’s food cake mix)
- Blueberries & Cream Dump Cake – Blueberry pie filling, keep the cream cheese layer, yellow or white cake mix (or skip the cream cheese layer and add lemon cake mix!)
- Cherry Berry Dump Cake – Cherry pie filling + 2 cups of frozen berries, keep or omit the cream cheese layer, yellow or white cake mix
- Double Cherry Dump Cake – Make the recipe as-is, but swap the yellow cake mix for cherry chip cake mix
- Peach Dump Cake – Use peach pie filling, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon on top, keep or omit the cream cheese layer, spiced cake or yellow boxed cake mix
- Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake – Use 1 can of cherry pie filling, one (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple (with the juice), omit the cream cheese layer and use yellow cake mix
Other Dump Cake Recipes I Love
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Cherry Dump Cake
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- Two 21 ounce cans cherry pie filling
- One 8 ounce tub whipped cream cheese softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup salted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Dump the cherry pie filling into a 9×13 baking pan.
- Stir the cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the egg and sugar until well combined.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the cherries.
- Sprinkle the cake mix over the cream cheese mixture.
- Slowly pour the melted butter over the cake mix.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes until golden brown on top.
- Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.
This recipe looks so good, delicious, and easy to make. I will try it this weekend. I can’t wait to taste this dump cake.
Thank you for the recipe.
Can you make this in a crock pot?
Hi Chyrell – I’ve never tried it in the Crockpot, but I will certainly have to try it out!! Adding that to my to-do list! 🙂
Can leftovers be frozen?
I’ve never tried that….but I’d think it would work ok! If you froze, please report back when you thaw it out! 🙂
Can I use my mix for the box cake
I’m not sure what’s in your mix, so that’s hard to say. If you tried it, I hope it worked alright! 🙂
Oh. My. Word! This is absolutely fantastic. My mom actually asked if we could have it for dinner tomorrow 😂. It’s soooo good! Made it exactly according to the original directions. Perfection.
I’m looking at your other recipes now. Thank you!
Haha! Your mom and I would get along well….I could eat this stuff daily! 🙂 Thanks so much for following along with my recipes, Lori!
Made this tonight for Valentines Day dessert! Was amazing- my daughter who doesn’t like Cherry pie loved it. Only thing I did different was use homemade Cherry pie filling instead of canned.
Thank you for sharing!
Deb, I’m so glad your family loved it! And I’m sure it’s even BETTER with homemade pie filling – yum!
Will this make two 8″ square pans instead of one 9×13?
Hi Maggie – Yes, that should be fine! It might take just a few minutes less to bake (as there will be a little more surface area), so I’d decrease the time a bit and see how it goes! Enjoy! 🙂
This looks so good! How long do you microwave the cream cheese for? Thanks!
Hi Lyn – It really is delicious!!! I just updated the recipe to be a little more clear. Instead of microwaving, simply bring the whipped cream cheese to room temperature so you can stir it easily! I hope that helps! -Kelsey
I just got done making this. Parts of the cake mix on top were still in powder form. Why?
I’m wondering if the butter simply didn’t get to some of the cake mix on top. Then you might have some powdery spots which is totally fine. If you want to make sure there aren’t any spots like that, you can certainly mix the melted butter and cake mix and sprinkle it on top before baking instead!! -Kelsey
I made your pumpkin dump cake for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. I’m going to try this one for Christmas. Can 2 boxes of cake mix be used to make that layer thicker? Probably just a little more time in oven and double the butter?
Hi Britt – Though I’ve never tried it with two boxes of cake mix, it should work just fine. I’d maybe recommend mixing the cake mixes and the (doubled) melted butter so the butter gets to all the cake mix. (If you don’t, I’m thinking the bottom of the layer of cake mix wouldn’t get the moisture from the butter and might be dry). Hope that helps!! -Kelsey
I have neighbors that blame me for their weight…lol. I do make the worlds best fudges after all😂🤤. I don’t eat a lot of sweets, but love making new deserts. I’m making this now and will be sending it to them this evening. Thank for sharing it.
Haha!!! Well I’m sure you’re also putting a huge smile on their faces! 🙂
This dessert is addicting! And so easy!
Since it is quite sweet next time I’m going to leave out the sugar in the cream cheese mixture.