Dump cakes are one of my favorite desserts to make when I’m in a hurry and need a delicious recipe. The nice thing about a dump cake is that you can literally dump all of the ingredients together, mix, and pop in the oven for a delicious treat. I’ve shared dump cakes before like my Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake and my Strawberry Dump Cake. This Caramel Apple Dump Cake recipe is one of my favorites though and I was recently told that this cake “tastes like fall,” which is exactly what we’re going for! The cake recipe for this cake is simple, you just need four ingredients! Cake mix, apple pie filling, egg, and vanilla!! Then of course you have the delicious caramel topping and the option to make it a Salted Caramel Apple Dump Cake with some course salt on top! Let’s jump right into this delicious recipe! If you want to know the difference of a Crock-Pot vs Slow Cooker – click here.
Table of Contents
Caramel Apple Dump Cake Recipe with 4 Ingredients
What do you need for this dump cake recipe?
- Butter or Yellow Cake Mix
- Apple Pie Filling
- Eggs
- Vanilla
This recipe is a take on the Betty Crocker Caramel Apple Dump Cake recipe with my own personal touches! But first…
What is a dump cake?
Dump cakes get bad connotations because of the name “dump” included in them. Some dump cake recipes just use canned fruit and cake mix on top, whereas others, like this recipe, use the cake mix and the fruit “dumped” together in a bowl and mixed well with a few other ingredients. Don’t let this dump cake fool you, it’s amazingly easy to make and it’s fool proof for even the newest baker!
This recipe is super simple, start by combining your ingredients for your cake and pour the batter into a 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees.
While the cake is cooling, start creating your caramel topping. You have the option to make it a salted caramel by adding a teaspoon of course sea salt to the top of the cake or into the caramel directly depending on your preference. This adds a delicious option to the cake!
Once the caramel is ready, pour over top of the cake and let cool.
Once cooled, slice and enjoy. You can also decorate your cake or top with sliced apples if you choose!
So simple and so delicious!
Does Dump Cake Need to Be Refrigerated?
This recipe does not have to be refrigerated as there are no fresh ingredients in the cake. It will do just fine covered tightly on the counter.
Can you make Caramel Apple Dump Cake with Fresh Apples?
Yes! You could absolutely do this. You would have to create your own homemade apple pie filling and use that in exchange for the canned apple pie filling. This would be the perfect recipe to use if you’ve recently visited your local apple orchard!
Can you make Apple Dump cake in a Slow Cooker?
I have not made it this way before, but I do believe you could place the cake portion of the recipe into the crockpot and then pour the caramel topping over top and it would be a gooey version of the same delicious dump cake recipe!
Other Dump Cake Variations:
- Slow Cooker Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake
- Banana Split Dump Cake
- Vanilla Strawberry Dump Cake
- 16 Delicious Dump Cake Recipes
Caramel Apple Dump Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 butter cake mix
- 1 large can apple pie filling
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Topping
- 1/3 cup milk
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- course salt (optional for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking pan.
- “Dump” all your cake ingredients together in a bowl and mix until blended and place in oven.
- Bake cake for 30-35 minutes, pull out when done and let cool.
- While cooling, start making your icing. Combine milk, butter, and sugar in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Let boil 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Once boiling, add butterscotch chips and continue to stir until melted.
- Note: I had a hard time getting all the butterscotch chips to melt, so I actually ran my topping through a strainer to catch any of the unmelted chips. Then I poured the entire hot mixture over my cake.
- Optional: If you want a salted caramel apple dump cake, lightly sprinkle course salt over top of the cake once cool for a nice salted flavoring to compliment the sweetness.
Pin it for later…
Could you use the new unwrapped carmel bits for the icing? Use the same icing recipe but use the carmel bits instead of butterscotch, This looks so good . Can’t wait to try. Thank You
Gayle, maybe you could….I’m not sure 🙂 Let me know if you try it that way!
I LIKE Dump cakes!!!
This is just the one I have been waiting for. Thank you so much.
Could you make this in a crock pot?
I have found that Hershey’s Brand chips melt the best- try that
Make sure you do a toothpick test on the cake before taking it out of the oven! I just made this cake and when I poured the frosting on, the emtire middle caved in. Why? Because it was still complete goo in the middle!! And yes, I baked for a full 35 mins In a preheated oven. Unfortunately I didn’t realized it wasn’t fully baked until I frosted it so there was nothing I could do but throw it out. Very sad.
Oh Beth…I’m so sorry to hear that. Yes, of course, definitely check…everyone’s ovens are a little different. Hopefully you have better luck next time! xoxo
Love this site. It will be the first time I have a dump cake.
Thanks, Mary! Hope you enjoy it!
This cake is sooo good! It’s not the typical dump cake that’s really more like a cobbler… This is more cakey, and that’s exactly what I wanted.
The only thing I changed was that I cut the apple slices in the pie filling into smaller pieces… just ran a knife through it a few times.
The butterscotch frosting is awesome!
We enjoyed this cake warm, with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream.
Thanks so much for the recipe!
Do you have this in a printable version
I wish you would put picures with your recipes so they would print sometimes it helps me to recognize which recipe i love th most thanks sandra
Thanks for the feedback, Sandra. I’ll add that to the recipe so you can print out.