Cherry Cheesecake Dump Cake With Cherry Pie Filling and Cream Cheese

Unbeatable Cherry Cheesecake Dump Cake: Quick, Scrumptious, and Ready to Wow!

Cherry cheesecake dump cake combines two cans of cherry pie filling, pockets of sweetened cream cheese, and a golden cake-mix topping in one 9-by-13-inch pan. It has the fruit-and-cream-cheese flavor of a cheesecake dessert, but no crust to make and no mixer to wash. Spoon it into bowls while it’s warm, or chill it for a firmer serving.

The name “dump cake” describes the method: the ingredients go into the baking dish in layers, with dry cake mix scattered over the filling. The butter on top melts into the mix as it bakes. There is no separate cake batter, and the cream cheese doesn’t need to be beaten into a smooth cheesecake filling.

Cherry Cheesecake Dump Cake Recipe

Yield: About 12 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 50 to 60 minutes
Cooling time: At least 30 minutes
Total time: About 1 hour 35 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes
Equipment: 9-by-13-inch baking dish, bowl, spoon or spatula

Ingredients

• 2 cans cherry pie filling, 21 ounces (about 595 g) each
• 1 package cream cheese, 8 ounces (227 g), softened
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar (about 40 g)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 box yellow or white cake mix, 13.25 to 15.25 ounces (about 375 to 430 g)
• 1 cup (2 sticks; 226 g) unsalted butter, cut into thin slices

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spread both cans of cherry pie filling evenly across the bottom.
2. Sweeten the cream cheese. In a bowl, stir the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until combined. A few small lumps are fine. Drop spoonfuls over the cherries, leaving some fruit visible between them.
3. Add the dry cake mix. Sprinkle it evenly over the filling, covering the surface from edge to edge. Do not stir it into the cherries or cream cheese.
4. Cover with butter. Arrange the thin butter slices across the cake mix, placing them close together so as little dry mix as possible remains exposed.
5. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden, the cherry filling is bubbling at the edges, and no large patches of dry cake mix remain. If you spot a dry patch near the end of baking, spoon a little melted butter over that area and continue baking. If the top browns before the dry mix has moistened, loosely cover the dish with foil.
6. Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. The filling will be very hot when the dish first leaves the oven and will thicken somewhat as it cools.

Getting the Layers Right

Two cans of pie filling give the cherries enough depth to stand up to the topping. Spread the fruit all the way into the corners before adding anything else. The cream cheese goes on in small spoonfuls, not one continuous layer. That leaves room for the cherry filling to bubble up through the dessert and gives each serving a mix of fruit and creamy pockets.

Softening the cream cheese makes it easy to stir with a spoon. If it is still cold and firm, the powdered sugar may be difficult to incorporate, and the dollops will be harder to spread around the pan. There is no need to make the mixture perfectly smooth, though. Small lumps disappear into the baked filling.

The cake mix stays dry until it goes into the pan. Stirring it into the cherries would produce a different texture, closer to a thick batter. Spread the dry mix in an even layer instead, breaking up any large clumps with your fingers. Use the whole box even if its weight differs slightly from another brand’s. Box sizes commonly fall within the range listed in the recipe.

Butter coverage deserves a little attention. Slices that are too thick leave wide stretches of exposed powder; slices placed close together give the topping a better chance to brown evenly. Cutting the sticks while they are cold makes thin slices easier to handle. Once the butter is arranged, leave the layers undisturbed and put the dish in the oven.

How to Tell When It’s Done

Look at the topping and the edges of the pan together. The surface should have golden, lightly crisp areas, and the cherry filling should be visibly bubbling around the sides. A pale area is not necessarily a problem, especially where filling has risen through the cake mix. A patch that still looks like loose, dry powder needs attention.

Ovens and baking dishes vary, so begin checking near the end of the stated baking range. A glass dish also lets you see the filling along the sides. If most of the topping has browned but a dry spot remains, add a little melted butter directly to that spot and bake a few minutes longer. There is no need to pour more butter over the entire pan.

This dessert will not pass the usual toothpick test for cake. Beneath the topping are warm cherries and soft cream cheese, so a toothpick will come out wet even when the dump cake is ready. The filling also remains loose while hot. Give it time to cool before deciding whether it has set enough for serving.

Serving and Make-Ahead Notes

Warm cherry cheesecake dump cake is easiest to serve with a large spoon. The topping is at its crispest on the day it is baked, with soft cherries and cream cheese underneath. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is good alongside it, though the dessert is sweet enough on its own.

For neater portions, let the pan cool, cover it, and refrigerate until chilled. The filling will firm up, making it easier to lift out servings with a spatula. The topping softens during refrigeration as it absorbs moisture from the fruit, so chilled portions won’t have quite the same texture as warm ones.

Because this dump cake contains cream cheese, refrigerate leftovers within two hours of baking. Cover the dish or transfer portions to airtight containers and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days. Eat leftovers cold or warm individual servings briefly in the microwave. Reheating softens the filling, but it won’t fully restore the freshly baked topping.

You can assemble the cream cheese mixture ahead of time and refrigerate it separately. Wait to add the dry cake mix and butter until you are ready to bake. If the assembled pan sits for hours, moisture from the cherries can soak unevenly into the mix before it reaches the oven.

Simple Ingredient Choices

Yellow cake mix gives the topping a familiar buttery cake flavor; white cake mix keeps the cherry and cream cheese flavors more prominent. Either works with the same method. Unsalted butter gives you the most control over the finished flavor, though salted butter can be used if that is what you have.

Use cherry pie filling, not canned cherries packed in water or juice. Pie filling contains a thickened sauce that becomes the dessert’s fruit layer. Plain canned cherries would need additional ingredients and a different method to produce a similar result.

The powdered sugar lightly sweetens the cream cheese and stirs in without much effort. You can leave the vanilla out if necessary, but keep the cream cheese in small dollops. A thick sheet of it is harder to distribute in each serving and may hide the cherry layer.

A Good Pan Dessert for Serving Warm or Cold

This cherry cream cheese dump cake needs little hands-on work, but its texture depends on two details: an even layer of dry cake mix and thin butter slices that cover it well. Bake until the fruit bubbles and the topping has no large powdery patches, then allow the hot filling to settle. Serve it warm for a crisp-edged, spoonable dessert, or chill it when you want firmer portions.