This Caramel Apple Dump Cake is a quick and easy shortcut dessert that tastes good enough to serve for company. Just six simple ingredients including apple pie filling, cinnamon, nutmeg, cake mix, and butter are dumped in a pan, baked and the results are amazing!
Caramel Apple Dump Cake
This Caramel Apple Dump Cake reminds me of fall when apples are harvested, but we like to make it all year long. It’s perfect for a summer picnic, family meal, potluck, and more. With just six ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time, you can enjoy this simple apple dessert anytime you want. This Dump Cake is a favorite and the caramel takes it to a whole other level of amazing.
What is a Dump Cake?
A ‘dump cake’ is a cake using ingredients that are literally dumped in a baking dish together. There is no mixing required, and no extra dirty dishes or mixing bowls have to be cleaned. Usually, fruit or canned fruit is used as the base. Top with a boxed cake mix and a wet ingredient like melted butter. Don’t miss these other great dump cake recipes: Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake | Easy Peach Dump Cake | Instant Pot Pina Colada Dump Cake
Ingredients You Will Need:
(the exact measurements and full recipe instructions are below in the easy to print recipe card):
- Apple pie filling – any apple pie filling brand will work or make our delicious homemade apple pie filling.
- Ground cinnamon – the extra cinnamon really makes the apple pie filling taste good!
- Ground nutmeg – some nutmeg adds a little hint of spice to the apples.
- Kraft caramels – unwrap the caramels and cut each in half
- Yellow cake mix – do not prepare the cake mix; leave it dry.
- Butter – cut the butter into ¼ inch thick pats. It’s best to use salted butter. Do not use margarine.
How to Make Caramel Apple Dump Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9 glass dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together apple pie filling, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out evenly.
- Arrange the caramels over top of the apple filling.
- Evenly sprinkle the dry cake mix over the caramels.
- Place the pats of butter evenly over the top of the whole dessert.
- Bake the dump cake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbling. Cool slightly before serving.
What to Serve with Caramel Apple Dump Cake
- Vanilla ice cream
- Warm caramel sauce
- Ground cinnamon or cinnamon sugar
- Whipped cream
How to Store the Leftovers
Keep the leftover cake covered tightly with plastic wrap or transfer it to an airtight food storage container. Keep the cake at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Tips and Tricks
- Additional spices can be added to the apple pie filling layer. A sprinkling of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, or allspice, are all wonderful spices to stir in to ramp up the the flavor.
- Yellowcake mix is what we use in this recipe, however, white cake mix and spice cake mix are also great flavor options!
More Apple Cake Recipes You Will Love
- Cinnamon Apple Cake
- Apple Butter Cake
- Apple Cider Donut Cake
- Upside Down Apple Cake
- Layered Apple Spice Cake
Caramel Apple Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cans (20 ounce) apple pie filling
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups Kraft caramels unwrapped and each cut in half
- 1 box dry yellow cake mix
- 1 cup butter cut into ¼ inch thick pats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together apple pie filling, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out evenly.
- Arrange the caramels over top of the apple filling. Evenly sprinkle the dry cake mix over the caramels.
- Place the pats of butter evenly over the top of the whole dessert.
- Bake the dump cake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbling.
- Cool slightly before serving.
Last Step:
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161 comments on “Caramel Apple Dump Cake”
Make all the time. My family loves this recipe!! I always add a little extra of everything, including a light sprinkle of sugar. I’m a southern girl!
Glad the family loves it Angel! Thanks!
Made this at Christmas and again tonight. So easy to make and delicious too, especially with ice cream!
Thank you Kathy!
Hi, sounds yummy. can you make ahead of time and pop in the oven when you get to your destination. Thanks
Hi Cindy. Yes, that would work well. Just prepare and cover until you are ready to bake.
I made it as recipe directed and it turned out great!!!
Glad to hear that Eileen. Thanks!
Very tasty but do not let it cool off because the Carmel will harden up. I think if I make this again I will use less and maybe Carmel morsel instead of hard Carmels
This is by far the most delicious dump cake I have ever made. It was so easy. I made it for my family and my brother in law could not get enough. So I made it for our church monthly dinner and people were asking me for the recipe. At home I had vanilla bean ice cream to put on top. That made all the difference. Yummy!!
Thanks Kristy!
Great recipe! Loved every bjte!
Thank you Susan!
Due to food allergies, I made it with gluten free cake mix and vegan butter. It came out delicious!!
Glad the GF turned out great. Thanks Felicia!
I have a lot of numbness and burning in my hands so I used the caramel baking pieces and they worked perfectly. We have a family tradition of making a dump cake over hot coals when we are camping. We haven’t been able to camp for the last few years so I made this last night for a family dinner. It was delicious and brought back many happy memories of sitting around a campfire eating dump cakes. I think I might try making this again using spice cake.
So glad it brought back those camping memories Melody! Thanks!
Hi, since apples are in season, can we use fresh apples instead of canned filling?
Hi Linda. Yes, you could use fresh apples as well! Try our apple pie filling recipe and add that to the dump cake.
Yummy
Thanks Marilyn!
Is there a sugar free version of the cake?
Hi B U Kidd. You could use a no sugar added apple pie filling and sugar free caramels?
This was amazing!! I did cut my caramels into 4 pieces instead of 2 and I added chopped pecans on top for the last 20 minutes of cooking. The toasted pecan flavor really put this over the top!!
Thank you Mary!
We have a dine and devo at church tonight. I just made the cake and had to sample it. It’s so good!! The cake is like cobbler. So easy and simple!! Thank you!
Thank you Rachel!
the cake is very good, but leave out the caramel candy pieces. They get too hard and chewy. I swirl the thick caramel ice cream topping into the apples instead and worked out wonderfully.
Thanks Deb!
I just cut the caramels up smaller and it worked out very well!
Yummy and easy to make. Everyone loved it
Thanks Lilly!
Everyone who taste this loves it. My daughter thinks it taste like Dutch apple pie.
Thank you Kathryn!
Oh my gosh! My son took one bite and ate the entire container I took for lunch.
Ha! Sorry to hear that but glad he liked it! Thanks Tammy!