Every so often you come across a dessert that is a piece of cake.
A cake that doesn't require too much attention to reap the benefits and looks the comforting part. Dump cake is precisely this.
I remember learning about this dessert during a trip to the US and found myself scraping all the cake topping off and scoffing it all into one mouthful like a child. I thought it was some sort of inside joke on the cafe menu but learned that a 'dump cake' was actually the formal terminology for what I was in fact, scoffing. Its origins are a little unclear, with some using crushed pineapple, cherry pie filling, cake mix, nuts and butter. Others explain its ; a chocolate cake without eggs, butter or milk that was a mainstay during the Depression.
A cake that doesn't require too much attention to reap the benefits and looks the comforting part. Dump cake is precisely this.
Somewhere between a cobbler and a crumble, this cake is prepared with either frozen, tinned, pureed or freshly chopped fruits and is sprinkled with cake-y topping - perfect for bubbling. If you do go down the fresh fruit route, be sure to macerate and soften the fruit first by mixing in a little sugar and lemon juice through and setting it aside for about 20-30 mins before starting this recipe.
This recipe is so easy that I have paid it forward to my friends who hear the word 'cake' and wince at the thought of sifting, beating, and assembling. I promise you, none of these verbs come into play here.
Apart from its ease, it uses pantry and long-shelf-life staples (frozen/tinned fruits, flour, sugar, salt, cocoa and butter) and you can even use packet cake mix if you really want to push the proverbial envelope from really easy to eyes closed.
Frozen fruits dump cake
Scattered frozen fruit topped with sugar and flour. Source: Farah Celjo
In a 26 cm baking dish or enamel pie tin, dump:
- 700 g frozen fruit (I used mixed berries and cherries)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- pinch of salt
Then dump:
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 1½ cups self-raising flour
- ½ cup almond meal or toasted desiccated coconut
Drizzle:
- 125 g butter, melted
Drizzle in butter. Source: Farah Celjo
If you want to mix up your fruits, then tinned pears, peaches, pineapple, cherries and apples also work well and you may want to reduce some of the sugar to accommodate any concentrates or syrup. Grated citrus (orange, lemon and lime) zest is also a fresh addition.
If you want to make the topping chocolate-flavoured, then sprinkle one tbsp of cocoa powder to the dry mix and add 80 g of grated dark chocolate for about 5-10 minutes from the end of the bake. Likewise, if you want to make it gluten-free replace the flour with an almond or nut meal and 1 tsp of baking powder.
Serve it warm with ice cream or pouring cream, and yoghurt means it's basically breakfast.
