This pumpkin dump cake is a creamy pumpkin pie filling topped with a decadent pecan butter cake. Serve with ice cream on top for the perfect end to any fall dinner or holiday meal.
I can’t get enough pumpkin dessert recipes this time of the year. Some of my favorites include homemade pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin gooey butter cake and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. This pumpkin dump cake is so very easy to make, and with just minutes of prep you end up with an amazing two layered dessert that’s perfect for feeding a crowd.
When I think fall, I think pumpkin recipes. There are so many amazing treats to be had! This easy dump cake recipe happens to be simple to make, but looks really impressive because it bakes up into a layered dessert with tons of flavor and texture.
For more fall dessert recipes checkout my caramel apple dip, pear custard pie and apple cinnamon cake.
Table of Contents
Pumpkin Dump Cake Ingredients
To make this pumpkin dump cake recipe, you will need pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, yellow cake mix, chopped pecans and butter.
How Do You Make Pumpkin Dump Cake?
To make this pumpkin dump cake, first preheat the oven and coat a baking pan with cooking spray. Next, place the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Stir all of the wet ingredients together. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the baking dish. Next, mix together the dry cake mix and pecans, then sprinkle it all over the pumpkin layer. Place thin slices of butter all over the top of the cake mix layer, then add another sprinkle of pecans. Bake until the cake is golden brown and the top is set. Cool for at least 15 minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pie filling. Pie filling contains other ingredients and will not set the same way.
- You can buy canned pumpkin puree or you can make your own pumpkin puree.
- This cake can be served warm, cold or at room temperature. To get neat slices, you’ll want to chill it in the fridge before cutting. Otherwise just use a big serving spoon and scoop it onto plates. You can reheat cold slices of cake for 20 seconds in the microwave if you like to eat it warm.
- Make sure that the butter is sliced thin so that you can cover the entire surface area of the pan with butter.
- If you’re a major pecan fan, you can add a sprinkle over the top for garnish before you serve your pumpkin dump cake.
- If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice in the house, feel free to make your own pumpkin pie spice by mixing together 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon with 1/4 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves and ground allspice.
Quick Tip
While this cake is perfectly delicious on its own, it’s even better when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.
Recipe FAQs
A dump cake is a dessert where ingredients are layered in a pan and baked. Literally everything is just dumped into the pan. This pumpkin cake does use one bowl to mix together the filling, but it’s totally worth the extra dirty dish to take that step.
A pumpkin dump cake can stay at room temperature for about 2 hours. After that point, I’d recommend refrigerating it in an airtight container or refrigerate it covered in plastic wrap.
You do not mix a dump cake because if you did, it wouldn’t bake up into different layers. The hallmark of a good dump cake is a gooey bottom layer and sweet buttery cake layer.
A dump cake can get powdery when the butter does not cover the whole cake. If your cake is a little powdery on top, try covering the powdery areas in whipped cream or ice cream when serving the cake.
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Flavor Variations
This pumpkin dump cake recipe is delicious as-is, but you can customize some of the ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Cake: Instead of yellow cake mix, try using vanilla cake mix, spice cake mix or ginger cake mix.
- Filling: You can swap out the pumpkin puree for sweet potato puree for a different flavor.
- Toppings: Feel free to add more toppings to your cake before you serve it. Some great options include whipped cream, toasted coconut, chocolate chips, crystallized ginger or toffee bits.
- Nuts: Not a fan of pecans? Try using chopped walnuts or almonds instead.
- Chocolate: Feel free to stir in 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the pumpkin layer. You may want to dust your chocolate chips in flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the baking dish.
I am not the biggest fan of pumpkin pie, so I often serve pumpkin dump cake instead for Thanksgiving. It bakes up like a pumpkin cobbler. I think this cake is much easier to make than pie, which is also a bonus.
As soon as the calendar hits September, I stock up on pumpkin puree so that we can enjoy this pumpkin dump cake for the colder months to come.
More Fall Recipes
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
2 hrs 1 min
Apple Fries
30 mins
Pumpkin Meringue Pie
1 hr 50 mins
Pecan Pie Bars
1 hr
Pumpkin Pancakes
30 mins
Pumpkin Dump Cake Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Pumpkin Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 29 ounce can pumpkin puree do not use pumpkin pie filling
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans divided use
- 1 cup butter cut into thin slices
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray.
- Place the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract in a bowl. Stir until smooth.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared pan.
- Place the cake mix and 1 cup of pecans in a bowl; stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the cake mix over the pumpkin layer.
- Place slices of butter all over the cake mix layer. Sprinkle the remaining pecans over the top.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and set. Let cool for at least 15 minutes, then serve. Top with ice cream and caramel sauce if desired.
Notes
- Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pie filling. Pie filling contains other ingredients and will not set the same way.
- This cake can be served warm, cold or at room temperature. To get neat slices, you’ll want to chill it before cutting. Otherwise just use a big serving spoon and scoop it onto plates. You can reheat cold slices of cake for 20 seconds in the microwave if you like to eat it warm.
- Make sure that the butter is sliced thin so that you can cover the entire surface area of the pan with butter.
What an easy recipe to make! We took this to a friends party today and everyone loved it!
We loved this, although I did tweak it a bit. I used a spice cake mix and did not add any extra spices and I only added 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I also left out the nuts because we have someone who is allergic to them. Very yummy dessert, the one-year-old wanted more, lots more.
Can just regular pumpkin be used? There isn’t any pumpkin purée’ to be found anywhere within a 40 mile radius.
What do you mean by regular pumpkin? Pumpkin puree is just canned pumpkin that doesn’t contain any other ingredients.
This looks delicious! I have it in the oven now. It’s been in for an hour and still isn’t set in the middle. Does it need to chill in the fridge to set?
The bottom layer firms up after it’s chilled!
This is such a delicious recipe! Can’t wait to make it again
Has anyone made this is an InstantPot or a slow cooker? My oven went out and I want to make this so bad.
Unfortunately this really needs to be made in the oven!
I’m making today for a Halloween Party!
Are they any way of making the pumpkin a little thicker .i love it but my hubby & kids thinks it would be better if the pumpkin filling could be thicker . THANK you
If you chill it the filling will thicken.
Looks delicious, but I love sweet potato can I use sweet potato for the filling instead?
Yes that’s fine!
Does it have to be in the refrigerator if storing for 4 days
Yes it should be refrigerated!
I love this cake and I’ve used it with yellow and spice mixes..both are good. I did make a change to the cake mix where I melted 1/2 cup of butter, added it to the cake mix and made a crumble out of it. When I layered the butter slices some of the cake mix was left dry..not a good look.
How long will the cake last in the refrigerator?
Up to 4 days!
Made it Thanksgiving day and here on Monday night just had a piece and should be good for at least 2 more days.
Do amazing I can’t stop eating it! Everyone asked for the recipe!
You said, let cool for at least 15 minutes. Is that all it needs? I seen further down in the comments that you said it needs to chill to fully set up. Should I cool on counter and then refrigerate to chill it before serving? If so, how long? I want to get this right!
Thanks so much! Making this on Thanksgiving this year!!!
You can serve this hot, cold or at room temperature, it’s your preference. When it’s warm it’s more like a pudding cake. When it’s chilled it cuts up into firmer squares as shown in these photos. There’s not really a right or wrong here!
Thank you SO much for explaining that more! I will post after I make it for Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving!!!