Caramel Apple Dump Cake (5 Ingredients, No Dry Spots)

Name: Caramel Apple Dump Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 40 ounces apple pie filling ((2 (20-ounce) cans)); ½ bag Werther's Original Chewy Caramels ((10.8-ounce bag), cut into small pieces); 1 box super moist butter yellow cake mix; 1 cup salted butter (melted); ½ cup whole milk; vanilla ice cream (optional for serving)

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

This caramel apple dump cake is what my husband asks for more than anything else I make. Warm apples, chewy caramel, buttery top that crisps at the edges. Hot in the bowl with ice cream melting into it.

Caramel apple dump cake topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzle on a plate.

I tested this one over and over until the topping came out right. It bakes into one even golden top now, and I use the same method on every dump cake I make.

The caramel is the other thing I settled, and it is the reason this does not taste like the other caramel apple desserts on my site. You get chewy bits of it all through the pan instead of a sweet layer that vanishes into the apples.

If dump cakes are your kind of dessert, I have a whole pile of dump cake recipes built the same easy way.

MY APPLE PIE SHORTCUT

The Deal I Made With My Husband About Dessert

My husband loves apple pie. I hate making apple pie, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. This is where the two of us landed and neither one of us gave anything up.

The apple dump cake comes out of the oven looking like real work, which is the part I like. He gets his apples and his caramel, I skip the pie entirely, and we both come out ahead.

This Part Matters

If your dump cake comes out with dry powdery patches of cake mix on top, this is why.

Most recipes have you scatter cold pats of butter across the dry mix. The butter only wets the spot it sits on. Everywhere it does not reach stays raw and chalky, and once it bakes that way you cannot fix it.

Melt the butter instead, stir the milk into it, and pour that mixture slowly over the whole surface. Go corner to corner and chase any spot that still looks dusty. The milk stretches the butter far enough to reach everything, and the top bakes into one even golden layer.

What You Need

Apple pie filling: Two 20-ounce cans, and canned is the point here. The syrup in the can is what keeps the bottom saucy while the top bakes up crisp.
Werther’s Original Chewy Caramels: Cut them small so they spread through the pan instead of sitting in firm lumps. Werther’s soft caramels work too if that is what your store has.
Butter yellow cake mix: Check the box and pick one without pudding in the mix. Pudding in the mix changes how the topping sets and you lose the crumbly buttery top that makes this work.
Salted butter and whole milk: These two get melted and stirred together, and that mixture is the entire topping. I use salted butter and whole milk. I have not tested it with unsalted butter or a lower fat milk, so I cannot tell you how those come out.

Plate of caramel apple dump cake with a golden cake topping and caramel apples nearby.

Why I Use Chewy Caramels Instead of Caramel Sauce

Here is the thing most recipes will not tell you. The caramels never melt into a smooth caramel layer, and I tested Werther’s, Kraft caramels and caramel bits to be sure. They soften and stay chewy.

I know that reads like a flaw. To me it is the best part.

Caramel sauce sinks into the apple filling and turns into background sweetness. The caramels stay where you put them, so you get a little chewy caramel surprise almost every bite.

If you want a smooth caramel layer on top of that, drizzle homemade salted caramel sauce over the finished cake. I do that sometimes on top of the caramels, never instead of them.

How to Make Caramel Apple Dump Cake

Step 1: Dump the Apples Heat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Empty both cans of apple pie filling in and smooth the top flat with a spatula. Sliced apples in caramel sauce in a glass baking dish.

Step 2: Cut and Scatter the Caramels Cut each caramel into three or four pieces and scatter them over the apples. Spread them wide so no corner of the pan gets skipped. Caramel bits scattered over sliced apples in a glass baking dish.

Step 3: Add the Cake Mix, Then the Butter and Milk Dump the cake mix over the top straight out of the box, dry, and smooth it out. Do not make it up according to the box directions. Stir the melted butter and milk together, then pour it slowly across the whole surface and chase down any dry spots. Pouring melted butter over dry cake mix layered on top of apples in a baking dish.

Step 4: Bake Until the Edges Bubble Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, turning the pan once halfway through. It is done when the sides are bubbling and the top is golden. I like to let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Overhead view of baked caramel apple dump cake with golden cake topping in a glass dish.

Scoop It, Do Not Slice It

The word cake in the name throws people off. This does not set up into squares you can cut and lift onto a plate. It comes out closer to a warm cobbler.

The top goes golden and a little crisp, the apples underneath stay loose and saucy, and the whole thing is meant to be scooped with a big spoon. Some spots will look wetter than others. That is normal and it is not underbaked.

Give it a few minutes out of the oven before you go in. Straight out it is molten and the apples run everywhere, and a short rest, about 10 minutes, lets it settle enough to hold a scoop.

Then scoop it into bowls while it is still hot. Vanilla ice cream on top is the way we eat it every time, and homemade vanilla ice cream is worth it if you have the time.

Caramel apple dump cake topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzle on a plate.

How Far Ahead You Can Put It Together

When people are coming over I take it right to this point and stop. Dump the apple pie filling in the pan, scatter the caramels, add the dry cake mix, then cover it and leave it on the counter.

I pour the butter and milk over as we are sitting down to dinner and slide it in the oven. By the time we are clearing plates the whole house smells like caramel apples and it comes out right when people want dessert.

Do not pour that liquid on early. Sitting under it is what turns the cake mix pasty, and it is the one part of this you cannot get ahead on.

Spoon scooping caramel apple dump cake from a glass baking dish next to fresh apples.

How to Store Caramel Apple Dump Cake

Cover the pan and keep leftovers in the fridge for up to four days. The top softens once it is chilled, so warm it back up before you eat it. Reheat single servings in the microwave until hot through.

I do not freeze this one. I have not tested it frozen and thawed, so I am not going to tell you it works when I do not know that it does.

Questions I Get About This One

Do you mix the cake mix first or dump it in dry?

Dry, straight out of the box. Do not make the cake according to the box directions. The dry mix is the topping, and the butter and milk you pour over it is what turns it into a crust.

Can I use fresh apples instead of the canned filling?

Not in this one. Fresh apples need sugar, spices and a different bake, so I built a separate version for them. Use my apple dump cake with fresh apples instead.

Can I make a smaller pan?

Yes. Cut everything in half and use an 8×8 baking dish.

More Dump Cake Recipes

Video

4.87 from 23 votes