My 3-Ingredient blackberry dump cake recipe is easy and delicious! With just cake mix, pie filling, and butter–and one optional ingredient–this cobber is super quick and hassle-free, so it’s the perfect dessert for beginner cooks. And since this recipe makes a 9×13 cobbler, it’s also great for feeding crowds. If you want an easy summer cobbler recipe, especially one with a crunchy crumble top, then keep reading to learn how to make blackberry dump cake with 3 ingredients.
What Is a Dump Cake?
Although their origin is a bit unclear, dump cakes are a type of cobbler made by “dumping” ingredients into a 9×13 baking dish. All recipes call for cake mix and butter, but some use fresh or frozen fruit for the filling while others use canned fruit or pie filling. The original dump cake combined canned pineapple and cherry pie filling, but since then home cooks have experimented with almost every flavor imaginable.
What Is the Difference Between 3-Ingredient Blackberry Dump Cake and Blackberry Cobbler?
As stated above, probably the easiest way to describe a dump cake is to call it a cobbler, but that isn’t totally accurate. If you’re a fan of blackberry cobbler with pie crust, be aware that eating a blackberry dump cake is a quite difference experience for many reasons:
Crumble Top – Unlike pie crust or batter cobblers, blackberry dump cake has a crumble topping made of cake mix and butter. If you like the crispiness of fruit crumble or Dutch apple pie, then you’ll like it.
Buttery Flavor – Whether you make blackberry dump cake with fresh fruit or pie filling, both versions call for using 2 sticks of butter, so the butter flavor is definitely stronger than in more traditional cobblers.
Less Juice – This 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake uses pie filling, so it isn’t as juicy as an old-fashioned cobbler. Even if you use fresh or frozen fruit, the cake mix topping absorbs some of the juice, too.
If you’re looking for an easy cobbler recipe, you might like this dump cake–but just be aware that the eating experience isn’t the same. If you’re looking for a classic old-fashioned dessert, this might not be what you want.
Why Make 3-Ingredient Blackberry Dump Cake with Pie Filling
Even though this blackberry dump cake recipe isn’t the same as a traditional cobblers, there are definitely some advantages to making 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake with pie filling:
Quick and Easy – You don’t have to thaw frozen berries or clean fresh ones: all you have to do is open a few cans and “dump” them into the baking dish, cover with cake mix and butter, and then bake.
Beginner Cooks – Since there’s no rolling pie crust, prepping fruit, or even measuring ingredients, this dump cake is perfect for beginner cooks who want a straightforward recipe.
Anytime of the Year – Blackberry pie filling is shelf-stable, so you can make this dump cake at any time of the year, not just in summer when fresh fruit is in season.
Feeds a Crowd – 2 pans of pie filling, 1 box of cake mix, and 2 sticks of butter makes a 9×13 dessert that’s big enough to feed a crowd with no problem.
Blackberry Dump Cake Ingredients
My 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake has just a few, simple ingredients:
Cake Mix – 1 15.25 oz box. I used white, but you could also use yellow.
Pie Filling – 2 21 oz cans. Be sure to use two cans–just one isn’t enough.
Butter – 2 sticks of unsalted butter.
In addition to the 3 base ingredients, I highly recommend adding:
Lemon Juice – 1.5 Tablespoons. As in my apple dump cake recipe, a bit of lemon juice really brings out the fruit flavor. While not absolutely necessary, I highly recommend adding
Tools:
When you make this recipe, make sure you have:
9×13 pan – If you don’t have a 9×13 pan, you can divide the ingredients in half and use two 8×8 baking dishes.
Spatula or Large Spoon – You’ll need a spatula or large spoon to not only scoop out the canned blackberry pie filling but also to spread it out in the baking dish.
Why Add Lemon Juice?
Although adding lemon juice isn’t absolutely necessary, I highly recommend doing so. The tartness of lemon helps to bring out other flavors, especially fruit flavors–I find this to be especially true with berries.
As I learned the hard way, many delicious desserts like my strawberry pie with frozen strawberries recipe actually taste a bit mediocre without lemon juice. That’s why I think it’s worth taking an extra minute or two to drizzle freshly-squeezed lemon juice over the blackberry pie filling to really bring out the flavor.
How to Make Blackberry Dump Cake with 3 Ingredients
Learning how to make blackberry dump cake with 3 ingredients is easy. You just have to follow a few, easy steps:
Butter the 9×13 Baking Dish
Before starting the recipe, it’s important to butter the baking dish. I opened one of the sticks of butter and used it to grease the 9×13 dish, but you can use non-stick spray if you want.
Keep the Butter in the Refrigerator
After greasing the dish, remember to put the 2 sticks of butter back into the refrigerator. You’ll be slicing the butter into small pieces later in the recipe, and it’s much easier to slice cold butter than warm butter.
Dump in the Pie Filling
Once the greased, it’s time to start the dump cake recipe by “dumping” in the 2 cans of blackberry pie filling. Be sure to use a large spoon or spatula to spread out the pie filling evenly.
Add Lemon Juice (If Using)
Although it’s not absolutely required for the recipe, I highly recommend sprinkling 1.5 Tablespoons of lemon juice over the blackberry pie filling. If needed, use a spoon to mix it in / spread it out.
Sprinkle the Cake Mix over the Pie Filling
Once the blackberry pie filling layer is in the baking dish, “dump” in the cake mix by moving the bag back and forth over the baking dish as you sprinkle the raw cake mix on top of the filling.
Smooth Out the Cake Mix
It’s pretty much impossible to sprinkle in the cake mix evenly, so use the back of a spoon to smooth it out, breaking up large lumps along the way. Although it seems a bit counterintuitive, don’t press down on the cake mix–simply spread it out so it rests lightly on top of the pie filling underneath.
Slice the Butter into Pads
The next step is probably the hardest, most time-consuming part of this 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake recipe. Use a sharp knife to cut the butter into thin slices, about 4-6 slices per Tablespoon.
How Can I Make Slicing the Butter Easier?
To make slicing the butter into pads a bit easier, make sure that:
Butter is Cold – Slicing butter into thin pads is much easier when the butter is cold, so that’s why I recommend keeping the butter in the refrigerator. You might try putting the butter in the freezer for 10 minutes, too–just don’t forget about it or it will freeze solid.
Knife is Sharp – This will be extremely difficult with a dull knife–or even a butter knife. So be sure to use thin, sharp knife with a large blade.
Lay the Pads on Top of the Cake Mix
As you cut the butter into thin pads, lay those pads on top of the cake mix, making sure they’re spaced closely yet evenly across the top. If you realize that you put the pads of butter too close / too far apart at the beginning, use the tip of your knife to pick up the pads of butter and adjust as necessary.
Why Lay Butter on top of the Blackberry Dump Cake?
The pads of butter will melt down into the cake mix, moisten it, and turn it into a crunchy, crumble topping, so it’s important to spread out the slices of butter widely yet evenly across the top of this 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake.
Can You Melt the Butter and Pour it On Top of the Cake Mix?
Although you could melt the butter and pour it over the top of the cake mix, I don’t recommend doing that. It’s hard to dump or pour in ingredients evenly, so some of the cake mix is bound to not get moistened with butter.
As I just stated, parts of the cake mix that remain dry won’t turn into crumble, so it’s important to make sure the butter is distributed evenly. Although it’s more difficult and time-consuming, making sure the butter is distributed across the top as evenly as possible is very important to this recipe.
Bake
Once the slices of butter are on top of the cake mix, put the 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake into the oven and bake at 350F, uncovered, for 1 hour.
Serve
Let the dump cake cool down for 15-30 minutes so that the pieces don’t fall apart when you cut and serve them. However, if you don’t mind if the pieces fall apart, go ahead and serve the blackberry dump cake hot from the oven–just don’t burn yourself.
How to Serve 3-Ingredient Blackberry Dump Cake
Even though this 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake is absolutely amazing served plain, it’s also good with:
Ice Cream – Vanilla ice cream is always good with fruit pies, cobblers, and dump cakes.
Whipped Cream – The fattiness cuts through the sweetness nicely. If you’ve never made homemade whipped cream before, my simple whipped cream recipe using an immersion blender is perfect: it’s easy, quick, and delicious!
Cool Whip – If you don’t like whipped cream, whipped topping is a good alternative.
How Many Servings Does Cake Recipe Make?
Although it all depends on the size of the portions, this recipe makes a 9×13 dump cake, so you should be able to cut it into 12-16 pieces that would be big enough to satisfy most people.
Does Blackberry Dump Cake Need to be Refrigerated?
Yes. Once your blackberry dump cake cools down to room temperature, store it in the refrigerator, uncovered. I don’t recommend covering it because trapping in the moisture can make the topping soggy.
How Long Does Blackberry Dump Cake Keep?
This 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake should keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Although it will likely be good for 4-5, the moisture in your refrigerator will start making the crumble soggy after the 3rd day.
Can You Freeze Blackberry Dump Cake?
Yes! To freeze blackberry dump cake, cut it into individual portions, place them on paper plates, wrap them in plastic wrap, and then freeze the pieces. To serve, take them out of the freezer, take off the plastic wrap, and either defrost in the refrigerator or in the microwave.
Can You Make 3-Ingredient Blackberry Dump Cake the Night Before?
Yes! This easy 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake cobbler is very versatile, so you can make it the night or day before. However, I wouldn’t make it more than 2 days ahead of time because the topping will start to get soggy. If you want to make it very far in advance, I advise freezing it.
Can You Make 3-Ingredient Dump Cake in a Bundt Pan?
No. Even though this recipe is versatile, I don’t think you could make this recipe in a bundt pan since it has less surface area than a 9×13 dish. You’d have to make the layer of cake mix thicker, and I’m not sure if the butter would melt all the way through the cake mix.
Can You Use Yellow Cake Mix?
Yes! Both white and yellow cake mix are fairly neutral, so you could use either in this recipe.
Can You Use Fresh or Frozen Berries Instead of Blackberry Pie Filling?
Yes! I think you could use replace the pie filling with fresh or frozen berries. I’ve never done it, but if you give it a try and like the result, let me know!
Can You Use Canned Blackberries?
Yes. Although I haven’t made this recipe with canned blackberries, I think you could use them. You might have to make a filling by boiling them on the stove with sugar and then add cornstarch, so if you give this a try, let me know how it turns out.
Can You Make This Dump Cake with Blackberry Jam?
Maybe. Although blackberry jam and pie filling are similar, pie filling isn’t quite as sweet. It’s also less dense, so it’s more liquid. Although I think that using blackberry pie filling is ideal, I think you probably could use an equivalent or slightly less amount of blackberry jam or jelly instead in a pinch.
Is There An Easier Way to Add the Butter?
Possibly. Although almost all classic dump cake recipes call for placing thin pads of butter on top of the cake mix, this you really don’t want to do that, you could possible try:
Melted Butter – Like I said earlier, I don’t think that pouring melted butter on top of the cake mix is the best way to go since it’s so hard to pour over the butter evenly.
Grated Butter – One of my YouTube subscribers suggested freezing the butter, shredding it in a food processor or grating it on a cheese grater, and then sprinkling it on top of the cake mix. I haven’t tried this, but theoretically I think it’s a better alternative than melted butter.
Why Is My 3-Ingredient Blackberry Dump Cake Gritty?
Seeds. As with other blackberry desserts, some people might find this 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake to be gritty because of the seeds. The gritty texture and bitter flavor of the seeds can be a bit unpleasant, so if you don’t like seeds, I recommend my seedless blackberry cobbler recipe.
A Chef’s Review
This 3-ingredient blackberry dump cake recipe is a success. Not only was it easy to make, but it was also delicious. The berry flavor was stronger than I was expecting for a cobbler with pie filling, and the butter turned the cake mix topping into a crumble that was crispy, butter, and irresistibly good.
However, the seeds in the filling–as with any blackberry dessert–may be unpleasant to some people. And although this dump cake had a good amount of berry flavor, this dessert wasn’t on par with old-fashioned cobbler since the filling didn’t have fresh / frozen berries and the butter flavor was so strong.
That being said, I still thought this was a good recipe. If you’re looking for something that’s exactly like an old-fashioned southern cobbler but easier, this isn’t it. On the other hand, if you want an easy fruit cobbler that’s good for both large crowds and beginner cooks, this 3-ingredient dump cake is for you.
Possible Changes to the Recipe
Even though I pleased with how my 3-ingredient blackberry cobbler turned out, possible changes to the recipe include:
Fresh Fruit – Replacing 1 of the cans of pie filling with about 20 ounces of fresh or frozen blackberries might give this dessert more berry flavor.
Sprinkle of Brown Sugar – Sarah Mock of SavoringTheGood.com has a blackberry dump cake without pie filling recipe that calls for sprinkling brown sugar on top of the cake mix. I like sprinkling white and brown sugar on top of my fruit pies and cobblers, so I think something similar would work in this recipe.
Blackberry Dump Cake Recipe Variations
Some blackberry dump cake recipe variations you might want to try include:
Fresh or Frozen Blackberries – Using fresh or frozen berries instead of pie filling would likely give this dump cake even more fruit flavor.
Lemon Cake Mix – Lemon juice helps to bring out the berry flavor, so I’m curious how lemon dump cake would affect this recipe.
Strawberry Cake Mix – A strawberry cake mix top and blackberry filling would make for an interesting mixed berry dessert. If you try this, let me know!
More 3-Ingredient Dump Cake Recipes
If you liked the ease and simplicity of this 3-ingredient blackberry cobbler recipe, you might also like:
3-Ingredient Lemon Dump Cake – If you like lemon but don’t like the acidity, this recipe is for you.
3-Ingredient Strawberry Dump Cake – You’ll love the golden brown top and bright red filling.
Pumpkin Dump Cake with 3 Ingredients – This is an easy fall dessert that everyone will love.
More Blackberry Recipes
If you love the sweet and sour flavor profile of blackberries, check out these other recipes:
Blackberry Cobbler with Pie Crust – Frozen berries make this old fashioned cobbler easy.
3-Ingredient Blackberry Dump Cake Directions
Ingredients
- 1 15.25 oz box white cake mix
- 2 21 oz cans blackberry pie filling (598.5g each can)
- 2 sticks butter, unsalted (226g)
- 1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
- After greasing the 9×13 baking dish, dump in the blackberry pie filling and spread it out evenly.
- If adding lemon juice, sprinkle the lemon juice on top of the pie filling and use a spoon to mix it in slightly.
- Sprinkle the raw cake mix on top of the blackberry pie filling, and then use the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly while also breaking up the lumps. Remember to not pack the cake mix down into the pie filling.
- Cut the butter into thin slices, about 4-6 slices per Tablespoon, and lay the pads of butter on top of the cake mix. Try to spread them out evenly across the top.
- Bake the dump cake at 350F, uncovered, for 1 hour.
- Let the dump cake cool and then serve.
YouTube Video:
Be sure to watch my YouTube video tutorial:
