Let’s make a birthday cake without an oven. My sister-in-law, Heidi, brought this recipe back from a Colorado ranch she worked on in the summers. This is so easy to do in your dutch oven. Plus, you can bake it in a 9 x 13 pan at 350° and get great results as well. Let’s get started.
2 large cans pie filling or 2 quarts of bottled fruit (The birthday girl chose raspberry pie filling.)
1 cake mix, you choose the flavor (I convinced the birthday girl that chocolate would be a good choice.)
1 cube butter, melted
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
Pour pie filling/bottled fruit into bottom of dutch oven (or 9 x13 pan).
Sprinkle cake mix to cover. Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top.
Put lid on dutch oven and scatter coals on top and bottom. I used to know how many cooking degrees each briquette equaled, but that tidbit of useful info leaked out of my head some time ago so now I just scatter till it looks good. I could probably do a Google search and find it, but I’ve got to get this posted so I can have some writing time while the boys are still asleep. (However, maybe one of you know off hand and could leave it in the comments section.) Cook for 45 minutes while you make and eat dinner. (Those recipes will be coming later.)
It’s been 45 minutes so tear yourself away from the scrumptious BBQ Turkey and Killer Beans (recipes coming) to check on the Dump Cake. Yep. It’s done. Now take some pictures while a couple of campers pass by and wonder why you are taking pictures of something that smells so good instead of eating it.
Serve with ice cream if you didn’t run out of room in your coolers and have to leave it home in the freezer.
Stick one candle in–not the full fourteen–and sing Happy Birthday.
Let the Birthday Girl blow out the candle. Pull the candle out of the cake to see that the BOTTOM end is more melted than the wick end. Now all the siblings want to put a candle in their cake, blow it out, and see if the bottom of the candle melted. May as well let them since you only used the one candle.
And that’s it! So easy and tastes so good. You have to try this. Once I added a layer of marshmallows between the fruit and cake mix–very tasty. Enjoy!
2 large cans pie filling or 2 quarts of bottled fruit (The birthday girl chose raspberry pie filling.)
1 cake mix, you choose the flavor (I convinced the birthday girl that chocolate would be a good choice.)
1 cube butter, melted
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
Pour pie filling/bottled fruit into bottom of dutch oven (or 9 x13 pan). Sprinkle cake mix to cover. Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top. Put lid on dutch oven and scatter coals on top and bottom. Cook for 45 minutes. (Place 9 x 13 pan in 350° oven and bake for 45-60 minutes.) Serve hot topped with ice cream if desired.
Yum! Chas and I have a similar recipe. We call it Good Stuff.
We do these all the time but instead of the butter I use a sprite or if I am doing a cherry chocolate I use a cherry coke. They are so so so yummy!
I can never remember the temps from the charcoals so I just do more on top than the bottom when baking something. Besides, if it is windy at all the temp goes down the tubes anyway. Which means you’ll use more coals.
@Jenni H. –Good Stuff is definitely a good name.
@Annika–You took a break from skiing to visit me? I feel so privileged! Ha! Ha! Glad you’re having fun. I’ll have to try the Sprite thing–so much easier than melting butter when you’re camping. (I have to admit that many times I’ve just put pats of butter on top and let it go at that. Yeah–Sprite’s gotta be easier.)
I LOVE dump recipes. I have a good cobbler one, but I don’t think a recipe could be better than this.
Sorry. Too much sugar in this thing. And way too many processed foods. I know, I know, I’m going to get hammered by all the desert afficionadoes, but I think a banana with a candle in it would work just fine. Don’t you? Maybe the kids wouldn’t agree, but hey, they gotta get healthy sometime in their lives, don’t they? Looks like a terrific spring break. Lots of fun. Well done Palmer family. You go Mr. Five year old and hike the heck out of arches.
@WordofWisdomguru–Yes, you are right, too much sugar and processed foods. I tend to throw all caution to the wind with desserts. We only have them on Sundays and special occasions like birthdays. Probably still too much for you.
@M.–Yum a cobbler dump recipe? You might have to share.
To WordofWisdomguru I say, get over your self! One time or even dare I say two times of eating dump cake is not going to kill you. And no, a banana with a candle sounds no fun and boring. I am not a dessert aficionado, I am a dedicated/addicted P90X fanatic so I don’t look the way I do from eating dump cake but if my daughter chose that for her birthday I would make it for her and yes I would eat it with her and enjoy it. And save the banana’s for later : )