Peachy Dump Cake Recipe

While a dump cake may not sound like the tastiest of dishes, what with the name having unpleasant connotations of garbage disposal (or worse), such recipes have long been popular due to the fact that they are fairly easy to cook. As recipe developer Jessica Morone tells us, this cake is "one of the easiest things you can make ... you are really just dumping everything in the pan and baking it." Well, not exactly, if you read the recipe. The cake is constructed in layers — nothing too difficult going on here, but it's a little more complicated then just dump and bake, particularly the part where you slice and arrange the butter.

While Morone uses peaches in this cake (canned ones, so no need for peeling or slicing), pretty much any other type of canned fruit would do. She also notes that she likes to add sliced almonds to her cake, explaining that "they add a really delicious flavor to the cake and a nice extra crunch." She does say that "you could use almond extract instead of vanilla extract to really bring out the almond flavor," but advises reducing the amount to just ½ teaspoon in that case as almond extract has a stronger flavor than vanilla. You could also use a different type of chopped nuts and/or a different flavor of cake mix as long as you follow the basic recipe template, as this is a very customizable cake.

To make this cake, you'll need just six ingredients: a box of cake mix (yellow or otherwise), a couple of cans of peaches, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sliced almonds, and butter. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F, then grease a 13x9-inch pan. You can use butter, oil, or cooking spray for this, as long as the oil (or spray) are neutral in flavor. Open the cans of peaches and pour them into the pan, spreading them out to make an even layer.

Open the box of cake mix and sprinkle the dry mix all over the peaches. Scatter the almonds over the top. At this point, you'll need to perform the most complicated, time-consuming task in the recipe: slice the butter into thin pats, then arrange these evenly over the almonds and cake mix.

Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes. When it's done, the cake itself should appear golden (unless you've used a different flavor cake mix than yellow) and the fruit should be bubbling. You can also poke a toothpick into the cake layer to make sure that there's no unbaked batter.

When the cake is done, you should let it cool for a few minutes before slicing, but this type of cake tends to be eaten warm, not cold. Morone says, "You don't need to top this cake with anything, but I love adding ice cream on top, or whipped cream."