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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117 comments on “Caramel Apple Dump Cake”
Does “1 cup 2 sticks butter” mean a total of 2 cups butter? (My sticks of butter are 1/2 cup each). Or total of 1 cup butter??
Please respond soon cuz I plan to make it on Saturday!
Thank you,
Kelly
Kelly, just 1 cup of butter which is two sticks. Hope you like it!
Super easy to make and was delicious! Had it with ice cream and wow! Definitely making it again.
great looking recipes looks very taste
Made this yesterday and it was a huge hit with my family.
What happens if you don’t use nutmeg
I didn’t have nutmeg so I just used cinnamon and it was still delicious.
I made this last night. I cut my butter slices really thin and covered the whole cake and it didn’t quite use the whole cup of butter, maybe 3/4 c. I also sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top. The top was crunchy and delicious. A huge hit with everyone. I’ve made apple dump cake before, but the caramel really kicked it up a notch. I used caramel bits and they worked great. Thanks Annette for the recipe.
This is excellent on a nice autumn day. We put ice cream on it while it was still warm.
Hubby wanted dessert…went to my pantry & had everything but the caramels. It turned out AMAZING!!!! I’m planning on making it again for a Thanksgiving dessert. I’ll be sure to include the caramels & I’m thinking of mixing in some toasted pecans with the canned apples! Can’t wait for Thanksgiving!!!
Can you use fresh apples instead of canned?
Can you use GLUTEN FREE cake mix with this recipe? Please respond quickly. Need to make it the end of the week. Thanks
Maxine, yes you can use gluten free cake mix.
So easy to make and so good to eat
You can also us a spice cake in the place of the yellow cake mix which is a wonderful addition to the apples and Carmel.
I really loved the taste of this cake, but the caramels resolidified when we added ice cream. If making again I’d either use the caramel melts or I’d try caramel sauce.
Excellent!! Everyone loved it, even the ones that don’t like Apple pie.
Fantastic recipes love them
I made this for the first time recently and my family loved it..this is will be my new to go desert to share with others..thanks for sharing..
Delicious Apple Carmel Cobbler.
I found caremel apple pie mix in a can
Better to use the caramel nuggets as opposed to the squares, they melt much better
Where do you find caramel nuggets?
I hadn’t had good luck with dump cakes but then I did something unusual. I now take the cake mix and the cold butter (in slices) and blitz them in the food processor. It just worked better for me.
Can I leave the caramel out?
Looking forward to making this one and sharing it with a friend!!
In the recipe for the caramel apple dump cake the recipe ingredients says one cup two sticks butter. Should that be one cup ( two sticks) butter or is it a total of four sticks of butter
Hey Bob, just one cup total.
I made this for Thanksgiving it was delicious except for the caramels, I thought they won’t melt but they didn’t so they were sticking to our teeth. I would definitely make again except use caramel sauce.
I made this using French vanilla cake. It was so delicious but very sweet.