Black forest cake is a traditional German dessert that's made with chocolate cake and layers of cream and cherry filling. It's a truly delicious dessert that can take up to three hours to make. Here, we've kept the classic but gave it a weeknight-ready upgrade. Rather than a layer cake, try making a dump cake.
Why Is it Called Dump Cake?
A dump cake is very similar to a cobbler in texture and flavor and is made by "dumping" ingredients like canned pie filling and cake mix into a cake pan. Generally, you start with canned fruit, fresh fruit, or pie filling and then sprinkle on a box of cake mix. Before baking, dot the top with pats of butter.
Black Forest Dump Cake Ingredients
To make this chocolate dump cake with cherries, you'll need just four ingredients. Pick up your favorite type of chocolate cake mix (our Test Kitchen recommends Devil's Food), cherry pie filling, salted butter, and almond extract—that's all you need to make this easy dessert. This black forest dump cake recipe is ready in under an hour including bake time!
How to Serve Black Forest Dump Cake
To mimic the creamy frosting of a black forest layer cake, we recommend serving this dump cake recipe warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream. If you want to make it ahead, the finished cake is also delicious served at room temperature.
Ingredients
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2 (21-ounce) cans cherry pie filling
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1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla extract (optional)
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1 package 2-layer-size devil's food cake mix
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3/4 cup cold salted butter, sliced into 24 pats
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Vanilla ice cream
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour pie filling into a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Stir in extract (if using) and spread evenly in dish.
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Evenly sprinkle cake mix over the cherries.
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Arrange pats of butter evenly over the cake mix. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cake mix is firm and filling is bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If desired, serve with ice cream.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
| 384 | Calories |
| 15g | Fat |
| 62g | Carbs |
| 2g | Protein |
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings Per Recipe 12 | |
| Calories 384.3 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 15.1g | 19% |
| Saturated Fat 8.2g | 41% |
| Cholesterol 30.5mg | 10% |
| Sodium 439.5mg | 19% |
| Total Carbohydrate 62.3g | 23% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.6g | 6% |
| Total Sugars 17g | |
| Protein 2.5g | 5% |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Vitamin C 3.6mg | 4% |
| Calcium 71.6mg | 6% |
| Iron 1.5mg | 8% |
| Potassium 252.8mg | 5% |
| Fatty acids, total trans 0.5g | |
| Vitamin D 0IU | |
| Alanine 0.1g | |
| Arginine 0.1g | |
| Ash 1.9g | |
| Aspartic acid 0.4g | |
| Caffeine 2.6mg | |
| Carotene, alpha 0mcg | |
| Choline, total 4.1mg | |
| Copper, Cu 0.2mg | |
| Cystine 0g | |
| Energy 1606.7kJ | |
| Fluoride, F 0.4mcg | |
| Folate, total 27.7mcg | |
| Glutamic acid 0.5g | |
| Glycine 0.1g | |
| Histidine 0g | |
| Isoleucine 0.1g | |
| Leucine 0.2g | |
| Lysine 0.1g | |
| Methionine 0g | |
| Magnesium, Mg 24.9mg | |
| Manganese, Mn 0.1mg | |
| Niacin 1.2mg | |
| Phosphorus, P 141.5mg | |
| Pantothenic acid 0.2mg | |
| Phenylalanine 0.1g | |
| Proline 0.2g | |
| Retinol 95.6mcg | |
| Selenium, Se 2mcg | |
| Serine 0.1g | |
| Theobromine 89.2mg | |
| Threonine 0.1g | |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.6mg | |
| Tryptophan 0g | |
| Tyrosine 0.1g | |
| Valine 0.1g | |
| Vitamin A, IU 558.8IU | |
| Vitamin A, RAE 107.4mcg | |
| Vitamin B-12 0.2mcg | |
| Vitamin B-6 0.1mg | |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 1.9mcg | |
| Water 74.6g | |
| Zinc, Zn 0.4mg | |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
