Caramel Apple Dump Cake

The thermometer may still say summer, but I am more than ready for fall. With the excitement surrounding Halloween decor and the impending release of the Starbucks PSL, many of you might be too. I’ll probably serve one last round of hot dogs and pasta salad before completing the seasonal switch to cozy beef tips and French onion dip chicken thighs. Luckily there’s a recipe that fits right in whether I’m serving dinner from the grill or the slow cooker — that’s four-ingredient caramel apple dump cake. 

Dump cakes are a cross between a cobbler and a crisp, but so much simpler than either of those! Make a dump cake by literally dumping fruity pie filling and boxed cake mix into a baking dish and finishing with a layer of sliced butter. In this recipe for caramel apple dump cake, add a drizzle of caramel sauce to the apple pie filling and choose between spice and yellow cake mix depending on how ready you are for fall. 

• It’s ideal for this in-between season. This dump cake delivers the ease of a summer dessert with the flavors of fall in every sweet spoonful. 
• Caramel and apple are a classic flavor combination. This dump cake takes the classic fall festival treat — caramel-dipped apples — and turns it into a four-ingredient dessert that’s easy for anyone to make.  

• Apple pie filling: Apple pie filling comes complete with sliced apples, sweetener, thickeners, and spices all in one. You’ll need two cans for this dump cake.
• Caramel sauce: Make your own caramel sauce, or pick up a jar at the grocery store near the ice cream aisle. 
• Cake mix: Choose spice or yellow cake mix for this four-ingredient dessert, and ignore the back-of-the-box instructions. Sprinkle the dry mix over the caramel sauce and apple pie filling, but do not stir.
• Unsalted butter: Cut thin slices of unsalted butter and arrange over the top of the cake mix. The butter will melt into the dry ingredients while the pie filling bubbles up from the bottom for a buttery, tender, and slightly crisp crust. 

Scoop caramel apple dump cake into bowls then top with cool and creamy vanilla ice cream. (If you are not sure which ice cream to buy, check out our recent taste test of the best store-bought vanilla ice creams.) A dollop of store-bought whipped topping or homemade whipped cream would be welcome, too. Whatever you choose, make sure to finish with an extra drizzle of caramel sauce.