If you've never made a dump cake before, you're in for a real treat. This gluten free dump cake gets its name because you literally "dump" all the ingredients into the pan and bake! No mixing, no extra bowls, and so delicious!!
My parents used to own a bar/restaurant named Smokies. It got its name from their former partner's last name of Smith and my dad's Navy nickname of Okie. It was a part of my life for over 30 years and I'll never forget it. Smokies is where I met Scott, and my kids grew up around it. Now it's just a memory.
Anywho, several years ago I was making desserts for Smokies and this dump cake was part of my rotation. There was one guy in the kitchen who wanted the whole pan to himself. Jimmy LOVED the dump cake so much, he'd often beg me to make it for him to take home!!
THE SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- Canned cherry pie filling
- Canned crushed pineapple with juice
- Packaged gluten free yellow cake mix (I used King Arthur Flour here)
- Chopped pecans
- Coconut
- Butter
HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE DUMP CAKE
- "Dump" pie filling into bottom of a 9 X 13-inch baking pan.
- "Dump" crushed pineapple with juice on top of pie filling. Spread.
- Sprinkle dry cake mix on top of pineapple evenly over the whole thing.
- Sprinkle pecans and then coconut over top of dry cake mix.
- Slowly drizzle melted butter over the entire cake.
- Bake at 250 degrees for one hour.
CAN I USE A DIFFERENT PIE FILLING FLAVOR?
Absolutely! My original recipe (which I cut out of our newspaper when I was about 18) called for raspberry pie filling, but I changed it to cherry because I couldn't find raspberry. We all loved the cherry so much that I never made it with anything but.
If you don't like cherry and want to use something else, some suggestions might be raspberry of course, blueberry, peach, apple, even strawberry. You could also make your own filling if you're so inclined. I have great recipes for pies that include peach, blueberry, apple, and strawberry that would probably work very well in this (minus the pie crust). But opening a can and dumping it in is about the easiest route to go and who doesn't want easy sometimes? Especially when we have to make everything from scratch most days.
CAN I USE A DIFFERENT FLAVOR CAKE MIX?
Sure! If you want to try chocolate, go for it!! We are a little limited in our cake mix flavors in the gluten free world, but whatever one you find and want to substitute, have at it 😋
I DON'T LIKE COCONUT. DO I HAVE TO USE THE COCONUT?
In a word, nope.
WHAT ABOUT PECANS? CAN I USE A DIFFERENT NUT?
Don't like pecans? Use almonds. Or walnuts. Or oooooh, macadamia nuts. Macadamia nuts would be GREAT in this cake, with all the tropical flavors. I might have to try that the next time!
This gluten free dump cake would be the perfect thing to bring to a potluck for your Labor Day weekend celebrations!
Gluten Free Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 2 20-ounce cans cherry pie filling
- 1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple in juice
- 1 package gluten free yellow cake mix
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup coconut
- 2 sticks (½ lb or 226 g) butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°.
- In a 9 X 13-inch baking pan, pour pie filling on the bottom of the pan and smooth out. Add the pineapple, undrained, and again smooth out. Next sprinkle the dry cake mix, followed by the pecans and coconut. Melt the butter and carefully pour over the top.
- Bake for 1 hour. If you want the coconut to be toasted on top, increase temperature to 350° and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until coconut is lightly toasted.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.
Andrea says
What could you sub for the pineapple if you can’t eat it? I love dump cake, but have an intolerance to pineapple.
Kim says
Anything really. You could leave it out entirely and add another can of cherry pie filling, or add any other flavor of pie filling (strawberry, peach, blueberry, etc).
Janet says
I used Lucky Leaf Blackberry pie filling, Live G Free Yellow cake mix from Aldi, Great Value Crushed Pineapple and pecans I chopped. I love coconut, but didn't have any on hand, so I skipped it. I made it in an oblong pan with a lid and cooked at 250 for an hour with the lid on, then raised to 350 for 10 minutes without the lid.
I'm taking this to a church event tonight and it is amazing! I used this recipe at Christmas, but cut in half used a square pan. I used half a box of cake mix, half the butter, no pineapple and one can of filling and it was amazing! I think I still used all the nuts! No one believed it was gluten free! THANK YOU for this recipe.
Sundra says
How would I make this into a mason jar dump cake? I’m thinking only the time would change?
Linda says
...are you sure... made it to spec..but at one hour it was neither brown nor bubbly...(250°F???)....I've increase the temp...left it in....
Linda says
...raised temp to 350°F ...baked for another hour...checked repeatedly...covered when it started browning...at 40 min it started to bubble...removed cover...looks & smells good...my girlfriend's have the last word at lunch...
Darlene says
Amazingly perfect. 250 degrees for 1 hr and then 350 for 7 minutes. Delicious .
Janelle Shepherd says
Wonderful recipe! I used the Krusteaz brand yellow cake mix and it turned out perfect. It was easy and so tasty.
Debbie hamilton says
Is one box of the gluten free cake mix enough? There does not seem to be as much cake mix in a gluten free box as in a regular cake mix box? Looking forward to trying this
Cyndi in NC says
OMG!! I love this. I had been searching for a good gf dump cake and this was it! I tried a couple of other recipes and then found yours. I didn't make it right away but now it will be in my rotation of favorites! Thanks again for a great recipe. Take care!
Kim says
Thanks so much, Cyndi! Dump cake was always one of my family's favorites 🙂