CROCK POT PUMPKIN DUMP CAKE RECIPE

Here’s the entire recipe. Pumpkin.

Box of yellow cake mix. Butter.

Slow cooker.

WHY THIS WORKS IN A SLOW COOKER

• Dump cake is a lazy-day type of dessert: throw a few things together, don’t stir, let it bake. Perfect.
• The trapped moisture from the pumpkin rises up into the dry cake mix and steams it into a luscious, dense, almost-custardy bottom. It doesn’t dry out like it might if baked in the oven.
• The butter melts down into the dry mix creating a toasty, golden, deliciously buttery crust. Letting the lid off the slow cooker for the last 30 minutes means it gets a slightly crunchy top too.
• The result is a bit of a cross between pudding cake and cobbler, depending on how long it cooks.
• Minimal dishes. Just the slow cooker insert to scrub when done.
• Easy peasy fall treat with very few ingredients.
• Layers, layers, layers. No mixing bowls, no beater, no fussing or hovering.
• Best served warm or cold with vanilla ice cream.

INGREDIENTS AND WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EACH ONE

CANNED PUMPKIN – Be sure to use plain old pumpkin, not pre-spiced pumpkin pie filling. The added sugar and spices in pumpkin pie filling throws off the recipe, making it overly sweet and tasting of canned pumpkin.

Trust me, pumpkin pie filling does not taste anything like home-baked pumpkin pie.

• Don’t use more than a 15 ounce can of pumpkin or the bottom of the cake will be too wet.

YELLOW CAKE MIX

• You’re looking for that lovely vanilla-beaty-buttery compliment to pumpkin spice, which is yellow cake mix. Any brand will do, as store-brand works just fine. Spice cake might work too, where the spices will meld into something completely different than the spices added to the recipe, while chocolate is nah.
• A standard box of cake mix is 15.25 ounces.

BUTTER

• Use real butter. Margarine and other substitutes don’t perform the same. Slice it while it’s cold and lay slices across the top.
• The slices of butter melt down into the dry cake mix and create a crust, and you should leave the lid cracked for the last half-hour so the top gets a bit of a crunch.
• More butter means more delicious.

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE

Pumpkin pie spice is a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you can use about 1 tsp of cinnamon.

Cinnamon is the predominant flavor anyway. The spice is important, but use it in moderation since it’s really just a background note to support the more overtly buttery/sweet flavors of the cake mix.

EGGS AND EVAPORATED MILK

The eggs and evaporated milk will thicken and set up with the loose, watery pumpkin. They’ll thicken it into a sort of custard layer.

Evaporated milk will help it thicken since it’s already been reduced. You can use heavy cream in a 1:1 ratio if you don’t have evaporated milk.

If you use regular milk the bottom will be more loose. Sweetened condensed milk might seem like an option, but will make this super sweet.

HOW TO MAKE IT, THE REAL PROCESS

• Use a cooking spray in your slow cooker so there’s less mess and clean-up at the end. This does tend to cling/stick a bit so cooking spray is required.
• Add pumpkin, eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Whisk well until combined and smooth. Pour into slow cooker and spread evenly across the bottom of the crock.
• Add cake mix on top of pumpkin mixture and spread evenly over the surface. Do not mix together or stir. Just spread evenly over top of pumpkin mixture with your hands or a spoon.
• Slice up butter into thin pats and lay them over the entire surface of cake mix. You want to have butter evenly spread over the whole thing. Let them overlap a bit and get creative with placement. The goal here is to have the best coverage. If you pour melted butter it won’t be as evenly distributed as using cold butter on top. If some areas miss out on the melted butter they’ll be super dry. If you use cold butter the cakes will still cook through, but you’ll have a super crispy top layer where the butter melts down into the cake mix.
• Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 to 2.5 hours OR cook on LOW for about 3.5 to 4 hours. The cake will be done when it starts pulling away from sides a tad and the top is mostly set.
• For a slightly crisper top: Leave the lid slightly askew for the last 30 minutes or so, propping it open with a wooden spoon handle or chopstick. This helps to dissipate some of the steam. It’s still going to be much more moist than a “baked” version, but this method helps prevent condensation on the underside of the lid from dripping onto the surface of the crumble, keeping it as crisp as possible.

CAUTIONS AND THINGS THAT GO WRONG

The top won’t be as crispy as the classic version. The nature of cooking in a moist environment means that the top isn’t going to be as crispy as if you bake it in the oven, but it will be golden and a little crispy.

If you REALLY want it crispy, spoon the cake into a baking dish and broil it for 3-4 minutes. It will be as close to crispy as you’re going to get.

Your edges are super-brown but the middle still seems underdone. This means your slow cooker runs HOT.

Check on it sooner next time (20-30 minutes earlier).

The bottom layer is too runny/jiggly. This recipe requires uninterrupted time on LOW to allow the pumpkin to set.

This is why we don’t suggest opening the slow cooker until it’s been baking for 2 hours on HIGH. Also note that every slow cooker heats differently.

An older 6-quart slow cooker runs much HOTTER than a new 4-quart one, so I would shorten the cooking time a bit. When it’s done, the pumpkin should be completely set with no jiggly center.

The pumpkin dump cake stuck to the insert. This can’t happen if you follow directions, folks.

The combination of melted butter and pumpkin is STICKY STUFF. Be generous with the nonstick cooking spray when you grease the slow cooker insert.

Lifting the lid extends cook time. Expect to add an additional 15-20 minutes to the cooking time for EVERY time you lift the lid before it’s been cooking for 2 hours.

STORAGE AND REHEATING

Store in refrigerator, covered, up to 4 days. You can leave it right in the insert and cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container.

The cake will soften a bit when stored and the pumpkin will be firmer, but still tastes great served cold. To reheat, spoon into a small baking dish and warm in a 325 degree oven for about 10 minutes, which won’t be as crispy, but close, OR microwave individual servings for about 45-60 seconds, which is not as tasty but much easier.

Don’t recommend freezing as the texture doesn’t freeze well, leading to watery pumpkin and gummy cake.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

This recipe doesn’t slice, so plan to scoop it up while still warm from the crock with a large spoon. Traditional serving suggestions include cold, lightly-sweetened whipped cream to offset the warm, spicy pumpkin.

SERVE WITH:

This recipe can easily be served as a dessert. Consider adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside or sprinkle a touch of cinnamon on top for an elegant finish.

You can even scatter some candied pecans on top for some crunch. Leave the dish in your slow cooker on the WARM setting and serve at your next get-together by scooping straight from the dish.

VARIATIONS WORTH TRYING

SPICE CAKE MIX INSTEAD OF YELLOW

Substitute spice cake mix for the yellow cake mix for an even more pumpkin spiced version of this recipe. The spice cake version is pretty autumnal, however, since pumpkin and spice cake already pack a punch of pumpkin pie spice, consider cutting back or eliminating the addition of the pumpkin pie spice called for in this recipe.

Otherwise, this cake might be a tad on the spicy side.

ADD CHOPPED PECANS OR WALNUTS

Add 3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped, sprinkled over the top of the dry cake and pumpkin mixtures before adding the cubes of butter. The nuts will toast during cooking.

Pecans go well with pumpkin and butter since they’re not as bitter as walnuts.

BROWN SUGAR SWIRL

Add a touch of brown sugar along side of the butter. All you have to do is sprinkle about 2 Tbs of brown sugar over the cake/pumpkin mixture.

Takes only 5 seconds and creates a caramelized crust on the top.

CRANBERRY PUMPKIN VERSION

Mix about 1/2 cup dried cranberries into the pumpkin mixture before spreading into slow cooker. The tartness of the cranberries cuts the sweetness of this recipe.

This would be a delicious and different change from pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.

CHOCOLATE CHIP ADDITION

Sprinkle about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips on top of cake mixture before adding butter. Chocolate chips melt during cooking and are concentrated in the top layer of cake.

Yum!

EQUIPMENT NOTES

I used a 6 quart slow cooker for this recipe and think it’s the best size since it gives the pumpkin mixture enough surface to spread out so it’s not too deep and will cook through. If you only have a 4 quart slow cooker, I’d allow an additional 30 to 45 minutes on the LOW setting since the pumpkin will be a little deeper and take longer to cook through.

You could forego using the bag, but you’ll need to do some serious scrubbing to remove all of the sugar from the cake mix and butter. This slow cooker liner bag will make cleanup a breeze after everyone digs into this delectable dessert.

Slow cooker liners are well worth the small investment; the amount of time you save is more than enough to compensate.