Fresh Peach Dump Cake

I am all for a dump cake.  I don’t know what makes them work, but with its dump, sprinkle and lay directions it make my inner child giggle.  I must have a boring life, eh?  The other day my P.S. and I found a fruit stand selling peaches in a parking lot.  We sampled a slice and were smitten.  These were very flavorful peaches!  Tart and sweet, juicy and beautiful!

Fresh Peach Dump Cake

We bought a “layer”, which was their way of saying “half a box”.  We learned something AND got 18 of the luscious peaches.  At home I separated the peaches.  The ripe peaches went into the fridge and the almost ripe went into a couple of baskets on the counter.  We ate them for several days, almost moaning with every delicious bite.  But it was time to find a recipe to enjoy them even more.

Use fresh, ripe peaches. Blanch to help remove skins then dice.

I liked the idea of yet another dump cake, this time with fresh peaches.  I found several recipes that looked good, and ended up combining two recipes to suit my ideas.  I imagined a tart dump cake drizzled with caramel sauce and topped with a mound of ice cream.  This was going to happen.

I used 6 of our ripest peaches, blanching them in boiling water for a minute to aid in removing the skins.  We eat them with skins on, but in baking I like to have them naked.  Ha.  My mind is naughty today.  I meant skinless.  That even sounds more brutal.  But peach skins removed, I sliced them in half, removed the pits and cut them into slices.

Layer peaches in the baking pan over the juice.

The slices went onto the bottom of a 9×13-in baking dish.  The recipes all call for fruit in sauce from a can, so I poured 1/2 cup of pineapple juice over the peaches to account for the extra moisture.

Spread dry cake mix over the layer of peaches.

Next I poured a box of dry yellow cake mix over the peaches.  Most recipes called for a white cake mix but I like the flavor of a yellow mix.  It’s closer to a cobbler’s flavors, maybe.

Slice butter and lay over the top.

I sliced up 1 1/2 sticks of butter (3/4 of a cup) and laid the slices evenly over the cake mix layer.

Bake 45-60 minutes or until browned and firm in the center.

Into the oven for 45 minutes at 350°F.  The cake wasn’t quite browned and bubbly so I let it bake the additional 15 minutes suggested in the recipe.

Serve pieces upside down with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of caramel if desired.

For dessert that night I served pieces of the dump cake drizzled with my favorite caramel sauce and a scoop of ice cream.  Peachy!  We loved the tart and sweet peaches buried in mouthfuls of yellow cake.  The drizzle of caramel and vanilla ice cream were bonuses on an already perfectly tasty dessert.  And the best part of dump cake are the chewy edges!

Fresh Peach Dump Cake

Fresh Peach Dump Cake

• Servings: 8-10
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ripe peaches make a nice dump cake garnished with pecans, caramel sauce and ice cream.

• 6-8 fresh peaches (I used 6 as my peaches were large)
• 1/2 cup pineapple or other fruit juice
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup); sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• Caramel sauce (garnish)
• Ice cream (garnish)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Blanch peaches in boiling water for a minute to aid in removing skins.  Slice in half, remove pit and dice into roughly 3/4″ chunks.  Place on bottom of 9×13-in baking dish.

Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over peaches.

Cut butter into thin slices and place evenly over top of cake mix.

Sprinkle top with chopped pecans if desired.

Bake for 45-60 minutes or until top is browned and bubbly.

Let cool and serve with caramel sauce and ice cream.

Adapted from Food Network