Caramel Apple Dump Cake: sweet tender apples are swirled with caramel and topped with a spiced cake in this easy to make dump cake with just FIVE ingredients!
This Caramel Apple Dump Cake is my GO TO dessert recipe for any kind of get together.
It is always a crowd pleaser and it’s incredibly easy to whip together with minimal effort on your part.
Sweet tender spiced apples make up the base of the cake with swirls of sweet caramel throughout.
Then we have a beautiful top layer that is soft, buttery and has a few little delicious crunchy spots.
Serve this caramel apple dump cake warm with vanilla ice cream and extra caramel drizzled on top and just wait for everyone to start begging you to share the recipe!
What is a dump cake?
Common question and I get it, it’s not exactly a super appeasing name.
However, dump cake just simply means a cake that you dump the ingredients in the pan and bake it!
This caramel apple dump cake is just like that, we layer everything together in a casserole dish and pop it into the oven.
It couldn’t be any easier and you will be shocked at how incredibly DELICIOUS the final cake is!
Caramel Apple Dump Cake Ingredients
This apple dump cake only uses 5 easy ingredients:
- apple pie filling
- cinnamon
- caramel squares
- cake mix
- butter
You can also use nutmeg, in addition to cinnamon, to spice up your cake a little more — but it’s totally optional.
Can I use a different cake mix for my Caramel Apple Dump Cake:
I get this question a lot and want to make sure I touch on it here. YES! You can use different cake mixes.
For this particular caramel apple dump cake, I would recommend yellow cake mix, white cake mix, vanilla cake mix or a spice cake mix.
If you use a spice cake mix with spices already added to it, I recommend pulling back on the cinnamon in the recipe so it doesn’t wind up being too overpowering.
How to make Caramel Apple Dump Cake?
- In a greased 9×13 casserole, spread the cinnamon and apple pie filling mixture.
- Arrange the sliced caramel squares on top of the apple layer.
- Sprinkle the top evenly with the boxed cake mix.
- Pour the melted butter on top and sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon, if desired.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbling.
- Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and extra caramel drizzled on top.
It couldn’t get any easier, but after that first bite I know you will be hooked. It’s the perfect combination of apples, caramel and sweet moist cake.
After the first time I made this Caramel Apple Dump Cake, Jorge literally talked about it for two straight days.
He said it was one of the best desserts I have made in a long time and he begged me to make it again ASAP.
This dump cake is one of the best EASY Fall desserts that I have made in years! Everyone BEGS for the recipe after they try it!
After many requests, I am now officially making this at Thanksgiving. That’s how good it is!
So what are you waiting for, it only takes 10 minutes to put together! Please leave a review below in the comments if you try it!
Caramel Apple Dump Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 (20 oz) cans apple pie filling, or 5 cups homemade apple pie filling
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
- 1 ½ cups caramel squares, sliced in half
- 1 (13.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
- ¾ cup (1.5 sticks) melted butter
Optional toppings:
- salted caramel sauce
- vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9 casserole dish and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together apple pie filling, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into the casserole dish and smooth with a spatula.
- Arrange carmael squares on top of apple filling layer and then top with yellow cake mix. Smooth cake mix into an even layer.
- Pour melted butter evenly on top of the cake mix. You can add more cinnamon on top of the butter if you would like (I do!).
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbling.
- Scoop into serving bowls and top with ice cream and caramel sauce, if desired.
Video
Nutrition
If you love this Caramel Apple Dump Cake, make sure and check out it’s very fancy sister the Caramel Apple Dream Cake!
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Excited to try this but will definitely sub spice cake mix for yellow cake mix. So tasty!!
Hello! The video looks like you put slices of butter on but recipe calls for melted butter? If melted, do you cover all the dry mix or just pour throughout where you can? Thank you?
Hey Sarah! Honestly, melted or sliced butter BOTH work exactly the same, it really doesn’t make a difference. Either one you do will work! Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!
I just finished baking this and while it smells delicious it doesn’t look quite right, I am so nervous to serve it tonight after dinner. The top still seemed to have pockets of dry cake mix after cooking. I mixed the top gently with a fork and added a bit more melted butter and then cooked it for about 5 more mins. It looks better now but I’m still nervous. However my house smells amazing!!
Is it ok to use the Kraft caramel bits instead of the squares?
Yes!
Do you mix the cake mix as box directs you to or do you dump dry mix?
Dump the dry mix right on top! Do not mix it as the box directs.
This looks delicious! Wondering if I can use caramel apple pie filling, or caramel ice cream topping instead of the caramel squares.
Sure! It will bake just fine without the caramel.
When you say carmel squares what do you mean? It seems very sweet instead off Apple pie filling could I use comstock apples?
I mean Kraft caramel squares! The individually wrapped caramel squares in the baking aisle made by Kraft. You can use any kind of apples or apple pie filling that you like!
Is there anything you can substitute for the butter? All these yummy sounding dump cakes call for butter & I can’t stand the taste lol.
You could use oil instead.
Oh, Mylanta! This is AMAZING!! I used fresh apples (slightly cooked to soften) and homemade salted caramel sauce. The absolute YUMMIEST!!
Sounds amazing!! Glad you enjoyed it!
Were can I find a video for the recipe
Hi Linda! Yes there is a video for this recipe. Look in the recipe card and you will see it! If you don’t see it, do you have an ad-blocker on? If you are using an ad-blocker, it will block the video. Hope this helps!
This is delicious! I forgot the ice cream this time, but next time I will try it with. It is also extremely simple to make.
Can I make this in a crock pot?
Yes, it will take 2 to 3 hours to bake. The caramel may get extra sticky in the crockpot – just FYI.
Made this simply amazing cake !! I’m a reluctant baker to say the least and am never confident of even following the most simple of recipes . Made this recipe for my husband’s birthday and even I was amazed by him simple it was . The end result was fabulous ,., the birthday boy loved it !!
Do I put the leftover cake in the fridge or can I leave it out?
You can do either, but I prefer to store it in the fridge and reheat any leftovers as desired!
I wonder if you could use a gluten free cake mix? My dil is gluten free. This would be an easy recipe to change.
I make this recipe with gluten free cake mix and add an extra 1/2 cup of butter. It turns out great.
This was one of the easiest tastiest desserts I’ve made in a long time. My family of 8 was still talking about it the next morning. I made it with yellow cake mix. I melted the butter and spooned it over the top covering every spot of cake mix Lol.
Pure deliciousness!!!
Love to hear that! Glad you enjoyed it Candy!
Can you use fresh apples?
I am making this, is my cake mix suppose to be like cake after it has been cooking or is it just dry mix that turns a little hard on top but just cake mix under the hard crust that it has created.
The top turns crunchy and the under part is soft where it combined with the apples and caramel.
Do u put the cake mix on dry or do U mix it according to the box instructions then pour it on???
You put it on dry!
This was delicious and even good served cold the next day. My hubby whipped this up as our Valentine’s dessert and it was delicious both last night, warm and today, cold. Thanks!
Could you cook this in a crock pot? If so how long would you cook it for?
Do you think you could use fresh apples? What would you recommend?
Hi Vicki! If you wanted to use fresh apples, I would probably soften them a little in a pan with butter, sugar and cinnamon first. Otherwise, the apples will never soften enough.
Do you make the cake as directed or just use the powder mix?
Just sprinkle the powdered mix on top! The video at the top will show you exactly how I make it.
I dont see anywhere the temp and time to bake?
The temp is at the very beginning of the recipe: Preheat oven to 350°F. The time is #5 on the directions list: Bake for 45 minutes.
Would using a white cake mix make any difference?
Nope, should still turn out tasty!
Also very good with chopped walnuts sprinkled on top, before the cake mix.
Looks absolutwly delicious! Do you use salted butter or non salted? Also, when using a Dutch oven did you have to adjust cooking time? Thx
I used unsalted butter! :-) And it really depends on the size of the dutch oven. If it is a large dutch oven, you shouldn’t have to adjust the time very much. Maybe add a few minutes and check. Hope this helps!
I put my butter in the freezer. Then use a cheese grater and grate the hard butter all over he surface of the cake mix. I do this on ALL dump cakes. Quick, easy and full coverage!
Did you have a preference on the caramel sauce you poured on top of the ice cream? Was it homemade, or did you buy it from a jar? And if you bought it from a jar, which brand do you prefer? Thanks!
I bought Smuckers Salted Caramel sauce in a jar!
It looks as though you might have used a bundt cake pan in the pics. What do you think? Or, is it better to stick with the standard casserole dish? Looks delicious!! Can’t wait to try this one out!
In the pictures I used a dutch oven. You can absolutely use one too, but every other time I have made this I use a standard casserole dish because it gives you the perfect amount of apples and caramel to crunchy cake topping!
Wow! Now I know what to do with my leftover Kraft Caramels from Halloween that I bought from the store to make caramel apples with! I was seriously trying to imagine all the ways I could use it but would have never thought of this one, yum!! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe!
This sounds perfectly yummy. Can I make it a few hours ahead or does it have to be served straight from the oven? Thank you!
It is best straight from the oven. The caramel is all gooey and the apples warm…and the top crispy. ;-)
If you need to make it ahead, I always put it all together…but don’t bake it until you are ready!
What are caramel bits?
Caramel Bits are small balls of caramel that are unwrapped already to be used in recipes. You will find them right by the regular square wrapped caramels in the baking aisle. If you would prefer, you can buy the traditional square wrapped caramels, but I would recommend cutting them in half.
Here is a link to see what the package of Caramel Bits looks like:
http://walmart.com/ip/Kraft-Premium-Unwrapped-Caramel-Bits-11-oz/10308416
Ummmm….oh my gosh..I can’t stop drooling! All of that melty caramel and ice cream, yes please!! I can see why you made this twice in one week!!
This is probably a dumb question……do you make the cake mix according to directions or just dump the cake mix on top?
You just spread the dry cake mix on top! Couldn’t be easier – but omg good.
Thank you for asking this!
Don’t mind me; I’m just over here drooling… Those photos are gorgeous!