This is a simple cobbler-like recipe with juicy blackberries and a buttery, cakey topping made from cake mix. An effortless dessert that is indulgent and delicious, making it a popular choice for potlucks, family gatherings, and other casual events. You might also know it as a blackberry dump cobbler.
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Dump cakes are family favorites around here and a growing category on this blog, and with good reason: they're a delicious easy dessert recipe option that uses simple ingredients.
Also called cobbler with cake mix, they're like a sweet casserole dish that is even better when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Quick and easy. I can't emphasize enough how simple it is to make a dump cake. It comes together quickly and can be on the table in under an hour. A fast and convenient dessert with minimal effort. Make a 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake using canned filling.
- Make-ahead. You can make it up to 2 days before and have it in the refrigerator. Or freeze it for several weeks.
- Crowd-pleasing flavors: it's especially good for picnics, potlucks, and other outdoor gatherings where you must feed many. In the summer, the fresh peach dump cake and cherry dump cake are huge hits wherever I take them.
FAQ
You can leave it at room temperature for a day. After that, it's best to refrigerate it. Fruit desserts are best kept chilled to prevent fermenting too quickly and going bad.
Yes, you can! And it's a great way to plan a dessert for a gathering. The baked dump cake keeps for 4-5 days in the refrigerator, well wrapped or in an airtight container. Let it come to room temperature before serving, or slightly warm it in a medium oven and serve it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I don't recommend serving it straight from the fridge.
Absolutely! And it keeps for a month. Cover it well, first in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil, and label it. Thaw at room temperature and warm slightly in a medium oven before serving.
Ingredient list
For the topping:
- Dry cake mix: the type you find in the supermarket or grocery store, whatever brand you want. I like yellow cake mix, but white cake works well too.
- Unsalted butter.
For the filling: store-bought or homemade.
- Blackberry canned pie filling. Any brand you like.
- OR - - Blackberries: fresh or frozen.
- Brown sugar: light or dark.
- Lemon juice: to add some acidity and balance the sweetness.
- Cornstarch: it's used as a thickener.
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
How to assemble a blackberry dump cake
As the name implies, this is a dump-and-bake recipe.
The original topping calls for sprinkling the cake mix evenly over the fruit and then covering it with thin slices of cold butter (as shown in the 3-ingredient dump cake).
I had some issues with too floury topping because the cake didn't mix well with the butter during baking. Eating dry parts of cake mix is not part of the deal.
So I changed how I make the topping and now combine the melted butter with the cake mix before sprinkling it on top of the blackberry filling.
The result is crunchier and bakes better.
- Open the can of blackberry pie filling. It wasn't available where I was, so I made a quick homemade one by stirring the filling ingredients in the baking dish.
- The quick topping is made by stirring melted butter into the cake mix. The result has dry spots and that is fine.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
Melted butter for the topping: I favor stirring it with the cake mix, and that's how I use it for most dump cake recipes. The topping integrates better as it bakes. Using the original method of covering the cake mix with thin, cold butter slices or liberally pouring the melted butter on top, the topping ingredients don't completly integrate during baking.
Eating dry parts of the cake mix is not what I aim for. But if you like floury toppings, make the topping the old-fashioned way, like we show in the original dump cake recipe post.
Baking
The topping will not cover the fruit completely and that is fine, as the juices need space to bubble as the dessert bakes.
Vintage Kitchen tip: make sure the topping is fully baked. It may be golden brown and the juices bubbling, but lift some of the dough here and there to check that it's not still wet inside.
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, utensils and equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer(like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend keeping track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Topping: after making many dump cakes, I tried several ways of mixing the cake mix with butter, and my favorite is by far the one explained here using melted butter. You can also do it the old-fashioned way, or the original one, as I do with the chocolate cherry dump cake.
- Filling: I like making the blackberry filling from scratch, but store-bought works like a charm if you usually use it. Just open a can! Doesn't get much simpler than that.
- Ratio: I find that a lower topping ratio to filling is ideal because it's crisper and tastes amazing without being over-buttery. But, as with most desserts, find your own ideal combination of filling, topping, and sweetness.
- Storing: treat it as you would a crumble or crisp, keeping leftovers in the refrigerator. You can freeze it for a month, sometimes more. Let it thaw at room temperature and warm it slightly in the oven before eating.
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Blackberry Cobbler with Cake Mix
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 2 cans blackberry pie filling, 21 ounces eachOR
Make it from scratch:
- 1.5 pounds blackberries, fresh or frozen, about 5 cups
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
For the topping:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups yellow cake mix, or white cake
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Have ready a 9-inch round oven dish (ceramic or glass) or an 8x11 rectangular baking dish.
- If using store-bought blackberry pie filling, you only have to open the cans and dump them into the prepared dish, spreading to cover the bottom.
If making filling from scratch:
- Mix 5 cups blackberries with 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in the baking dish or in a separate medium bowl and then transfer to the dish.
- Stir 2 tablespoons cornstarch with ¼ cup water in a small bowl or cup until completely dissolved.
- Drizzle over the berry mixture and stir lightly to integrate.
For the topping:
- Pour ½ cup melted butter over 2 cups (370g) cake mix in a medium bowl and stir until you have a crumbly mixture. It might be floury in parts, and that is fine.
- Sprinkle over the blackberries. It will not cover it completely, and that is fine. Don't stir it and mix it with the berries.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and dry and the filling bubbles around the edges, checking close to the end of the baking time by lifting here and there and making sure the topping is fully baked. If necessary, bake it longer.
- Serve warm plain, with a scoop of ice cream or dollop of whipped cream. And fresh blackberries if you want to.
Debbie says
Made this tonight and my husband loved it, I left the cake mix loose and also used one stick of vegetable based butter, tasted sooooo good.