Why You’ll Adore This Sweet Potato Dump Cake
- Effortless and Simple Recipe – With a handful of pantry ingredients and a few minutes of prep, you can “dump” all the components into your baking dish and let the oven work its magic!
- Overflowing with Fall Flavors – As the weather cools and the leaves change hues, you’ll find yourself craving recipes like this. Bursting with brown sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger, this delectable dessert is guaranteed to be a hit at your Thanksgiving feast!
An Introduction to Dump Cakes
What exactly are “Dump Cakes”? They are recipes where you simply dump all the ingredients into a baking dish and let them bake. These recipes are designed to be the easiest desserts imaginable, with many requiring just three ingredients: a pie filling (such as apple or blueberry), cake mix, and butter. For example, take a look at our popular Blueberry Dump Cake. A few years ago, a Sweet Potato Dump Cake recipe went viral on TikTok, and this is our take on it.
Although we do mix some of the ingredients together instead of solely dumping them into the dish, this recipe remains incredibly simple. Trust us, the extra couple of minutes are worth it! Making this Dump Cake involves just three easy steps: mix the ingredients, dump them into your baking dish, and top with cake mix and butter.
Sweet Potato Dump Cake Recipe
For detailed instructions, refer to the printable recipe card below. However, here’s what you’ll need to get started:
- CANNED SWEET POTATOES – Drained. Opt for the chopped version canned in a light syrup, ensuring that you drain them.
- BUTTER – We recommend using unsalted butter.
- MILK – We suggest using 2% milk. However, feel free to substitute with a lower-fat milk to lighten the dish or use half-and-half or heavy cream for a richer taste.
- BROWN SUGAR – Who can resist the delightful combination of brown sugar and sweet potatoes?
- VANILLA EXTRACT – Enhances the dish with a depth of flavor. We recommend using high-quality vanilla extract instead of the store-brand version.
- YELLOW CAKE MIX – In this recipe, yellow dry cake mix works best. However, in a pinch, you can use white or vanilla boxed cake mix. You could even experiment with a spiced cake mix, though we haven’t tried it ourselves.
- SPICES – The combination of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger will make this dish burst with the delightful flavors of fall.
Storage, Freezing, and Make-Ahead Instructions
You can store the dump cake in an airtight container at room temperature. It’s best served warm, although reheating is not necessary.
If you prefer to make this dish ahead of time, simply reheat it before serving. This is especially handy if your oven is busy with Thanksgiving meal preparations!
We do not recommend freezing this recipe.
A Note on Adding Butter
There are three ways to incorporate butter into this dish:
- Slice the butter into thin pats and distribute them evenly.
- Melt the butter and drizzle it over the cake mix before baking.
- Melt the butter, stir it into the cake mix, and then layer that mixture on top of your dump cake. Each method creates slightly different results, so feel free to experiment and determine which technique suits your tastes best.
Notes, Tips, and FAQs
- How do you know when the dump cake is done? Since all the ingredients are already cooked, thorough baking is not a concern. You’ll know it’s ready to be removed from the oven when the edges turn golden brown.
- Can you serve this as a side dish? Although many sweet potato recipes make excellent holiday side dishes, this particular recipe leans more towards being a dessert. However, who are we to dictate how you enjoy your food?
- Adding nuts – For an added layer of flavor and texture, consider adding walnuts, pecans, or shaved almonds to the top of the cake.
- Drizzling caramel sauce – Make this dessert even more indulgent by drizzling some caramel sauce on top. You can add the sauce before or after baking.
- Serving with ice cream – Warm up the dish and serve it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream for a delectable treat.
- Mashed or chunky sweet potatoes – We mashed our sweet potatoes before baking. However, you can also leave them in chunks. They will break down slightly during baking, resulting in a different consistency for the final dish.
We hope you thoroughly enjoy making and savoring this Sweet Potato Dump Cake recipe. Don’t forget to let us know how it turns out in the comments section below. Happy cooking!
Looking for more mouthwatering recipes like this? Check out:
- Sweet Potato Pone
- Korean Sweet Potatoes
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Apple Dump Cake
- Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake
