Upgrade Any Dump Cake Recipe With This Creamy Boost

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A dump cake is hands down one of the easiest cakes you could ever make. Crafted by literally dumping fruity canned pie filling, butter, and cake mix into a baking dish without mixing, its construction can only be described as "willy-nilly." While it may sound like a bit of a mess, the moisture in the butter and pie filling hydrates the cake mix, which (thanks to the no-mix method) is dolloped atop the fruit creating a sort of ersatz cobbler. The combination of gooey fruit filling and super moist, slightly caramelized cake is hard to beat. The only thing that could possibly improve it is an ingredient that makes everything better: cream cheese.

There are loads of ways to use cream cheese when you cook, but few are quite as delightful as incorporating it into your dump cake. Typically, dump cakes are layered with pie filling on the bottom, cake mix in the middle, and butter on top. Adding cream cheese between the cake and the fruit filling adds richness and a creamy, slightly tangy element that complements the sweetness of the fruit. For little pockets of cheesy goodness peppered in, cut a cold brick of cold cream cheese into cubes and scatter it. Alternatively, you can whip some of the cream cheese with egg and powdered sugar to create a fluffy, meringue-like layer that sits between the cake and the fruit. 

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One of the best things about dump cake is it's versatility. You can effectively pair any pie filling with any boxed cake mix to create the flavor combination of your dreams. While cherry pie filling, angel food cake, and cream cheese meld together to form a dreamy cherry cheesecake vibe, swapping the angel food cake for devil's food cake transforms the dessert from light and fresh to rich and decadent. Including cream cheese in a lemon dump cake with lemon pie filling and yellow cake mix creates the creamiest deconstructed lemon bar you've ever had — especially if you beat the cream cheese with powdered sugar. 

You don't have to find a special dump cake recipe that calls for cream cheese either. Just put it in your favorite peachy dump cake recipe, and watch the magic happen. If you have a knack for pairing flavors, you might try making up your own version. We love blueberry pie filling and ginger cake with chunks of cream cheese scattered throughout. Garnish each plate with a spring of basil for some fresh, peppery aromatics.