Crock Pot Cherry Dump Cake
This scrumptious Crock Pot Cherry Dump Cake recipe has only 3 ingredients and gives you a yummy homemade dessert without the hassle of baking. Great for a crowd, this recipe is comforting, has less than 5 minutes of prep time and can be served right from the slow cooker! You’ll also love my Apple Dump Cake in the Crock Pot.
A crock pot dump cake is one of my favorite things to make when I’m hosting friends. It takes very little time and effort to prep it. Because it cooks for several hours, you can make it ahead and it will be ready when you are!
I love cake mix desserts and this cherry crock pot dump cake, with yellow cake mix, is a family favorite. I’ve been making dump cakes for years and I’ve tried them all different ways. I have no doubts you’ll love this too.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Making a dump cake in a crock pot is perfect if you don’t want to heat up your house by using your oven. Plus, you can serve it right from the slow cooker!
Browse all of my dump cake recipes. Or check out my most popular ones: Strawberry Shortcake Dump Cake, the original Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake Dump Cake and Eggnog Dump Cake.
Ingredients
- Cherry pie filling: Look for the cherry pie filling cans that say “more fruit”. Whichever brand you can find that looks like it has a lot of fruit, go with that one!
- Yellow cake mix: Yellow cake mix has more flavor that white and I prefer it for dump cakes.
- Butter: I prefer salted butter but you can use whatever you prefer.
Substitutions and Variations
How to make a crock pot dump cake
Step 1
To the bowl of your crock pot add 2 cans of cherry pie filling.
Do not stir this dessert! You can see a spatula in the image above. That is simply to get all of the delicious cherry goodness from the cans. Because remember, a dump cake doesn’t need stirring. It’s a layered dessert.
Step 2
Sprinkle on the dry boxed cake mix. (Do not make the cake mix per the directions on the box, you simply use the powdered cake mix).
Step 3
Top with melted butter.
For the best crust: Before putting the lid on the crock pot, add a double layer of paper towels (not touching the top of the melted butter and cake mix). This will help catch any condensation that collects under the lid. The edges will hang out past the side of the lid and that is fine.
This Cherry Dump Cake takes 2 hours (on high, or 4 hours on low) to cook in the slow cooker. And while the crust doesn’t get as crispy as it does when baked in the oven, the buttery cake mix flavor is still there! So YUM!
Top Tips
- I’m in the camp that more butter is always better. But you could easily cut this to 1/2 cup of butter and it would still work and be delicious. This is especially true of a crock pot dump cake because of the moisture that you’ll have from cooking with a lid.
- There are a number of ways to add the butter. I find it easiest to melt it in the microwave and drizzle on as evenly as possible. But you can also cut it into pats and distribute or use a cold butter cube and a cheese grater.
- If you feel like your crock pot runs hot, you can spray the bowl with a little bit of cooking spray to ensure that the cherry filling doesn’t get burnt on and hard to clean.
A Crock Pot Cherry Dump Cake makes a great holiday dessert since you can make it without using any of that super valuable oven space.
Frequently asked questions
Scoop a hearty portion of the cherry dump cake into a serving bowl. Because the crock pot will keep it warm, you can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it would melt deliciously on top. Or simply top with whipped cream. Or leave it plain.
Move the dump cake to an air-tight container and let it cool completely before putting the lid on. Store it in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Because it takes a few hours to cook in the slow cooker, this is a great dessert to make ahead. You can cook it for 2-3 hours, then turn your appliance to “warm” to keep it warm until ready to serve (up to an hour – it’s not fussy and and may even crisp up that crust even more!) Because it is so easy to make, for best results I would make it no more than 4 hours ahead.
It would actually be more work to make it a day ahead of time due to having to let it cool before storing it and then fully reheating it to serve.
The double layer of paper towels is essential for getting a good texture with the cake mix crust. While you do need some moisture to help the dry cake mix turn into a crust, too much will make it soggy.
More crock pot recipes you may enjoy
Save and Pin this post for later!
Make sure you don’t lose this Slow Cooker Dump Cake recipe by saving it for later! For more recipes, make sure you’re following me on Pinterest, Instagram, and like my page on Facebook. If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a star rating and tag me in your pictures!
Cherry Dump Cake in the Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 15 ounces yellow cake mix (1 box)
- 42 ounces cherry pie filling (2 – 21 ounce cans)
- 1 cup butter melted
Instructions
- In the bowl of a crock pot, add 2 cans of cherry pie filling.
- Evenly sprinkle the dry yellow cake mix over the top of the cherries.
- Pour on melted butter.
- Do not stir.
- Place a double layer of paper towels under the lid of the crock pot and place on the bowl. Don't let it touch the top of the melted butter and cake mix.
- Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.
This is the first time I’ve tried a cake – or a dump cake – in a crockpot and it came out just right!
Do you think that this crockpot cherry dump cake would come out good as a gluten-free cake? I can’t wait to try it!
I have tried a dump cake with a gluten free cake mix in the past and it doesn’t have that great cake mix crust but products have come a long way since then! I’m sure it can be done!
Wait–you can make cakes in a Crockpot?! Game. Changer. I want to make this crockpot cherry dump cake for Thanksgiving!
I’m already a huge fan of dump cakes, but I’ve never heard of a crockpot dump cake! I can’t wait to try this!
Thank you! I didn’t actually realize I could use my crock pot to make cake. This Crockpot dump cake looks so amazing and I can’t wait to surprise my family with it!
The best thing about making dump cakes, is that you don’t have to worry, “what if the cake falls apart” when you remove it from the pan! {Giggle} I can’t wait to try this crockpot cherry dump cake! It looks so tasty!
This crockpot cherry dump cake looks SO good! I love the idea of being able to have something sweet at dinner time without all the work! Adding the ingredients to this week’s grocery list.
And I love that it doesn’t heat up the kitchen because my oven/kitchen combo is the worst. Crockpot Cherry Dump Cake saves the day!
The thing I love most about a crockpot dump cake is that it makes the house smell so good while it’s cooking. The cherry smell of this one is divine!
All that buttery goodness, right?! There is nothing better than a cherry crockpot dump cake!
I just tried it with 2 boxes of yellow cake mix. How long do I need to cook it?