Dessert
Pumpkin Dump Cake
Pumpkin pie on the bottom, buttery yellow cake on top, and about ten minutes of actual work. It is the dessert for the house that is already full of people.
Ingredients
- 2 cans (15 oz each) pure pumpkin
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted (1/4 cup in the filling, 3/4 cup on top)
- To serve: whipped cream and a little fresh nutmeg, or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 13 by 9 inch metal pan. Metal browns the top better than glass, and the top is the best part.
- Whisk the half-and-half, brown sugar, eggs, spices and vanilla in a big bowl until smooth. Whisk in the pumpkin, then a quarter cup of the melted butter. Pour it into the pan and spread it to the corners.
- Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin. Drizzle the rest of the butter over the top and nudge it around with the back of a spoon so every patch of mix gets some. Do not stir. The layers are the whole point.
- Bake about an hour, until the top is deep golden and the middle no longer jiggles. Dry, powdery spots on top mean that patch missed the butter. A little more next time.
- Cool it to room temperature so the pumpkin layer firms up enough to cut clean squares. It keeps covered in the refrigerator for a few days and is good cold, warm, or anywhere in between.
- Serve with whipped cream and a little fresh nutmeg grated over the top, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream if it is still warm. In Houston in November, it may well be.
Tip
Use pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced, so it throws the whole thing off. Look for cans that say pure pumpkin.
Adapted from a recipe by Micah A. Leal.
