A dump cake is an American dessert similar to a cobbler but with a cake-like topping. It is so named because it is prepared by "dumping" ingredients (typically canned fruit or pie filling, followed by a boxed cake mix) into a cake pan without mixing.
The origins of the dump cake are somewhat unclear. [1] It has been suggested that the name originated with a recipe published by Duncan Hines in 1980, [2] [3] [4] though the name is attested in a number of American community cookbooks and periodicals from the 1970s and 60s. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Some sources have suggested the cakes became popular in the 1950s following the emergence of prepared cake mixes after World War II. [9]
Among the earliest published recipes was submitted by a reader ("Mrs. Tom A. (Velma) Harris") to the Sapulpa Daily Herald in September 1964. [10]
A 1968 article on dump cakes in Saskatoon's Star-Phoenix described the recipe as "going the rounds in the United States mid-west at the moment". [11]
It has been compared to the wacky cake, another 20th century American cake which does not use eggs and which has a simple method of preparation. [2]
A prototypical dump cake recipe begins with adding one or more cans of fruit or pie filling to a shallow baking dish. A boxed cake mix is then spread on top. This is then topped with butter or margarine (in pieces or melted), and baked in the oven. Some recipes call for the addition of further toppings such as nuts or shredded coconut. [3] [12]
In some variants, the cake mix may be replaced by a homemade combination of dry ingredients, and the canned fruit may be replaced or augmented with fresh or frozen fruit. [13] [12] [1]
In Hawaii, a popular variation of the "pumpkin dump cake" is called pumpkin crunch. [14] The earliest known published recipe for Hawaiian "pumpkin crunch cake" in 1996 identifies the dessert as a dump cake. [15] The recipes for pumpkin crunch and mainland pumpkin dump cake are nearly identical. [16] However, it is exclusively served as a dessert bar. After the cake is finished baking, it is chilled thoroughly before inverting the cake upside-down, with the crumb topping serving as a bottom crust and optionally topped with whipped cream. [17] Chef Sam Choy of Hawaii is credited for popularizing this recipe. [18]
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines. It is made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet and, depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey, dried fruit, nuts, as well as spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked.
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies are claimed to have originated in the United States in 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe; however, historical recipes for grated or chopped chocolate cookies exist prior to 1938 by various other authors.
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit, nuts, fruit preserves, brown sugar, sweetened vegetables, or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy. Savoury pies may be filled with meat, eggs and cheese or a mixture of meat and vegetables.
An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apples. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream, custard or cheddar cheese. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the filling; the upper crust may be solid or latticed. The bottom crust may be baked separately ("blind") to prevent it from getting soggy. Deep-dish apple pie often has a top crust only. Tarte Tatin is baked with the crust on top, but served with it on the bottom.
Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually refrigerated.
Cobbler is a dessert consisting of a fruit filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling before being baked. Some cobbler recipes, especially in the American South, resemble a thick-crusted, deep-dish pie with both a top and bottom crust. Cobbler is part of the cuisine of the United Kingdom and United States, and should not be confused with a crumble.
Apple crisp is a dessert made with a streusel topping. In the US, it is also called apple crumble, a word which refers to a different dessert in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Carrot cake is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter.
Fruit curd is a dessert spread and topping. It is usually made with citrus fruit, though may be made with other fruits. Curds are often used as spreads and as flavourings.
Solo Foods, LLC is a manufacturer of food ingredients, makers of Solo and Baker dessert fruit and nut fillings, marshmallow creme and toasted marshmallow creme, Simon Fischer fruit butters, marzipan, almond paste and Chun’s Asian cooking sauces.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with eggs, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Clementine cake is a flourless cake flavored primarily with whole unpeeled clementines and almonds. It may originate from an orange cake in Sephardic cuisine. In popular culture, the cake played a minor part in the plot of the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation.
The lemon bar, also called lemon square, is a popular type of dessert bar in the United States consisting of a thin shortbread crust and a lemon curd filling.
Butter mochi is a cake made from coconut milk, glutinous rice flour, and butter and is a popular dessert in Hawaiian cuisine.
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