The beauty of this berry dump cake is that it's wonderfully low-stress. You layer the filling, sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top, drizzle the butter and let the oven do the rest. No beating. No creaming. No fussing. It uses pantry staples, but it's also a way to use leftover cranberry sauce.
It's the festive dessert that works for potlucks, small holiday dinners, lazy Sundays and those days when you want something warm and gooey without the effort.
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Quick holiday dessert
Also called dump cobbler, this cranberry dump cake might be the perfect recipe for leftover cran sauce, homemade or store-bought. If I'm being honest, I make extra so I have enough for this quick dessert.
Dump cakes are sweet casseroles, quick to assemble, and the result is crowd-pleasing yummy. That's the whole concept and why they became so popular. You can have it on the table in under 1 hour, warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
Using canned cranberry sauce is a modern vintage take on the classic cherry dump cobbler. The cake mix soaks up the butter and turns golden and slightly crisp at the edges while staying soft underneath. Dump the layers and let the oven do its magic!
If you've made dump cakes before, you'll know they're more like cobblers than traditional cakes.
It's a great way to plan a dessert for a large crowd, like a Thanksgiving potluck or Christmas gathering. The baked dessert can be stored for 4-5 days in the refrigerator, well covered in plastic wrap. Let it come to room temperature before serving, or slightly warm it in a medium oven.
Testing Notes
Cranberry sauce consistency is essential. Some canned ones are too thick, and homemade leftovers can firm up a lot after a day or more, so you might need more orange juice to loosen them up and have a soft filling. If making your own, make sure you have enough syrup and remember it will continue to firm up in the oven.
Cake mix distribution: Sprinkle the boxed mix evenly over the fruit so it absorbs juices in all areas. Clumps of dry cake mix are usually from uneven coverage.
Butter coverage is key, and melted butter gives the most even distribution. Pour it slowly and evenly over the surface. A few small dry spots are fine. Large dry patches are not. If needed, drizzle a little extra butter halfway through baking.
Ratio: I find that a lower topping ratio to filling is ideal because it's crisper and tastes amazing without being over-buttery or sweet. But, as with most desserts, find your ideal combination of filling, topping, and sweetness.
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.
Keep leftovers in the refrigerator. You can freeze them for a month, sometimes more. Let it thaw at room temperature and warm it slightly in the oven before eating.
How to assemble a dump cake
This version uses the melted butter over the cake mix, the old-fashioned way.
For variation, I also stir the melted butter into the cake mix (see the blueberry pineapple dump cake) because the result is crunchier and bakes faster. But you'll have an extra bowl to wash, and the topping won't be cakey and soft. Your call.
- The filling ingredients are dumped into the baking dish. I add the orange juice, zest, cinnamon and fresh cranberries and stir lightly to mix.
- Cake mix: scatter it carefully to cover the whole cranberry layer, but don't press or stir it.
- Drizzle the melted butter over the dry ingredients. It will have a few dry patches, and that is fine. Don't stir!
- Bake until golden brown and bubbly around the edges.
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Easy Cranberry Dump Cake (with pantry staples)
Ingredients
- 28 ounces whole berry cranberry sauce, not jellied, 2 (14-ounce) cans
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- ½ cup fresh orange juice, or water, if you prefer less tang
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix box, or white cake mix or butter cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly butter or spray a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Spread 28 ounces whole berry cranberry sauce evenly in the bottom of the dish and break it up gently with a spoon so it's not one solid mass.
- Scatter 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries on top, drizzle ½ cup fresh orange juice and sprinkle 1 teaspoon orange zest and ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon on top. Stir to mix lightly.
- Sprinkle 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix box evenly over the cranberry layer; don't stir, but lightly distribute it to level the layer as much as you can.
- Drizzle 1 cup unsalted butter evenly over the cake mix, covering it, or as much as possible.
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbling at the edges.
- Cool slightly before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
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