My 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake recipe is easy and delicious! With just cake mix, instant pudding, milk, and butter–and a few optional things like chocolate chips–you can make a simple cake that’s one of the best for beginner cooks or large crowds–and best of all, since you mix everything together in the baking dish, you only dirty one pan, making cleanup a breeze. If you’re looking for a simple dessert with old-fashioned flavor, then keep reading to learn how to make 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake.
What Is A Dump Cake?
Originating in the 1950’s, a dump cake is a simple dessert in which ingredients are “dumped” into a dish and baked. Most versions, such as my 3 ingredient lemon dump cake, resemble cobblers in that pie filling or canned fruit is dumped into a pan, covered with cake mix, topped with pads of butter, and then baked.
Can You Make a Dump Cake with Chocolate Cake Mix?
Yes! You can make a dump cake with chocolate cake mix by either using it in one of the cobbler recipes, such as replacing the white cake mix in my cherry dump cake recipe, or using the chocolate cake mix to make a quick cake that’s perfect for chocoholics.
4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake
If you choose the cake option, I highly recommend my 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake recipe. It’s moist, flavorful, and super easy to make: all you have to do is dump the ingredients into a baking dish, mix them together, and bake.
Is It Really a Dump Cake?
Although some purists might say that the need to stir disqualifies this recipe from being classified as a dump cake, I disagree. Like other dump cakes, this dessert requires few ingredients and little preparation–it’s mostly just opening boxes of pre-measured ingredients and pouring them into a baking dish. And just like other dump cakes, everything is done in one dish, so cleanup is a breeze.
Easy, Good for Beginner Cooks, and Crowds
Another good thing about this chocolate dump cake recipe is that there are no eggs! That means you can try the batter without worrying about the raw eggs.
Considering that this recipe is so simple, I think it still deserves to be classified as a dump cake. It’s good, easy, and since it’s made in a 9×13 pan, it’s great for crowds. If you try it, I know you’ll like it.
Chocolate Dump Cake Ingredients
To make this simple 9×13 dessert, you only need 4 ingredients:
Chocolate Cake Mix – 15.25 oz box. I used Devil’s food, but you can use any kind you want.
Instant Chocolate Pudding – 3.9 oz box. I used regular, but fudge, triple chocolate, etc. is OK.
Milk – 1.5 cups (360g). I used whole milk–powdered, actually–but you can use 1%, 2%, or even skim.
Butter – 1 stick, unsalted (113g). If using salted butter, omit the optional salt.
Optional Ingredients:
Although these ingredients aren’t necessary, I highly recommend adding:
Chocolate Chips – 12 oz bag. I used dark chocolate, but milk is fine as well.
Instant Coffee – 1 teaspoon. It really brings out the chocolate flavor.
Salt – About 1/4 teaspoon–I honestly didn’t measure. A bit of salt helps to balance out the flavors.
Tools for the Recipe
9×13 Baking Dish – Like other dump cakes, this recipe should be made in a 9×13 casserole dish.
What Type of Chocolate Cake Mix Should I Use?
Any kind you want! I used Devil’s food chocolate cake mix because that’s what I had on hand, but you could any type, including chocolate fudge, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or even German chocolate.
Although your dump cake will turn out slightly different, I don’t think the finished dessert will be drastically different, so feel free to use what you have on hand and to experiment.
Can I Use Brownie Mix?
Yes! Use can definitely use brownie mix to make this 4-ingredient chocolate cake recipe. However, you will have to make a few adjustments to the recipe:
Add 1 teaspoon baking powder – Most brownie mixes have minimal (if any) leavening agent, so unless you want your cake to be flat, you need to add 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
Note the number of ounces – My box of cake mix was 15.25 oz, but I’ve noticed that many brownie mixes are around 18 oz, so you might want not want to use the whole box, or maybe use a bit more milk to make the batter.
According to Susie of MomsDinner.com, brownie mixes usually have more sugar and more cocoa powder than cake mixes. In spite of the difference, I don’t think you need to make any other changes in order to use brownie mix in this chocolate dump cake recipe.
How to Make 4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake
Learning how to make a 4-Ingredient chocolate dump cake is easy. Just follow a few, simple steps:
Melt the Butter and Pour Into the Dish
After greasing the 9×13 pan with butter, the first step in my 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake is melting the butter. In the video I cut up the stick up butter, put the chunks in a glass measuring cup, and then melted the butter in the microwave–I think that’s probably the easiest way to do it.
When the butter is melted, pour it into the 9×13 pan and try to distribute it in the pan as evenly as possible. In the video you can see there were still a few bits of unmelted butter. This is an easy, forgiving recipe, so if some of the butter isn’t melted, that’s OK–it’ll get worked into the batter perfectly fine.
Add the Instant Pudding
Once the melted butter is in the dish, add the instant chocolate pudding by sprinkling it into the melted butter as evenly as possible. In a normal dump cake recipe, sprinkling in a dry ingredient evenly is important, but since this recipe calls for mixing everything together, this version is more forgiving.
Dump in the Cake Mix
Then, add the chocolate cake mix by “dumping” it into the pan, moving the bag over the pan so that you distribute the cake mix evenly. If you want to, you can use a fork or spoon to spread it out evenly in the pan, but that isn’t necessary–as with the instant pudding, since everything is going to be mixed into a batter, you don’t have to make sure the ingredients are distributed throughout the pan evenly.
Sprinkle in the Instant Coffee and Salt (Optional)
Although this chocolate dump cake is absolutely great with just 4 ingredients, I recommend adding 2 more at this point in the recipe if you want to take this dessert to the next level: salt and coffee.
Whatever you’re making, salt helps to bring out the flavors–even in desserts–so a bit of salt will make this chocolate dump cake even more flavorful. I didn’t measure, but I’d recommend adding 1/4 teaspoon.
As in my chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting recipe, coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate. Even if you don’t really like coffee, I still highly recommend sprinkling in 1 teaspoon of instant coffee–it will make a big difference.
What Can I Add to Enhance the Flavor Besides Coffee?
However, if you absolutely hate coffee, a good alternative is 1 teaspoon of molasses. Chocolate chip cookie recipes almost always have brown sugar, so molasses and chocolate definitely go together.
Pour in the Milk
Next, add the milk. Try to pour the milk in evenly throughout the pan, but once again, you don’t have to be perfect. I used powdered whole milk because that’s what I had on hand, but regular whole, 2%, 1%, or even skim would be fine.
Honestly, I think you could even use plant-based milk, or if you absolutely have to, just water–the chocolate dump cake won’t be as rich, but it will still be good. Like I said earlier, this recipe is forgiving.
Stir the Ingredients to Make the Batter
Now it’s time to stir the ingredients together to make the batter. Avoid splashing against the sides so that the dish stays clean and the finished cake looks more presentable.
Smooth Out the Dump Cake Batter
Once the batter is formed, smooth it out so that it’s distributed evenly in the pan. I used a fork to mix the batter but a spoon to spread it out, but for spreading out the batter, I definitely recommend a spoon.
Add the Chocolate Chips (Optional)
Although this recipe is great with just 4 ingredients–along with the salt and coffee–adding chocolate chips will really take this dump cake to the next level. With the batter smoothed out evenly in the pan, sprinkle a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips on top of the cake. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you could use milk chocolate, too.
By adding the chocolate chips at the end, they’ll sit on top of the cake–or sink down slightly–so they’ll be visible when the dump cake is done. This way, everyone will know that this cake not only has a chocolate batter but also chocolate chips: any chocoholic who lays eyes on it will definitely want a piece.
Can I Put the Chocolate Chips Inside the Cake?
If you’d rather have chocolate chips inside the dump cake, you definitely can. Although I would add them right before pouring in the milk, I recommend first putting the chocolate chips into a bowl, adding 1.5 Tablespoons of flour, and coating the chips with the flour, and then adding them to the pan.
Whenever you want chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or any other mix-ins evenly distributed in a cake, muffin, or other baked good, it’s best to first coat the small pieces with flour. That way, they’re much less likely to sink to the bottom during the baking process.
Bake the Dump Cake
Now that everything is in the 9×13 baking dish, it’s time to put the dump cake into the oven. I baked my 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake at 350F, uncovered, for 35 minutes.
After cooling for 15-20 minutes, it should be cool enough to serve. Enjoy!
How to Serve 4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake
Although this 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake was delicious on its own, you could serve this cake with:
Ice Cream – There’s nothing like ice cream and cake, and this dump cake is no exception.
Whipped Cream – The fattiness of whipped cream helps cut through the sweetness of desserts. If you just need a little bit for a few servings, make my whipped cream with an immersion blender recipe–there’s nothing like homemade whipped cream!
Cool Whip – Cool whip or some other type of whipped topping would be good, too.
Caramel Sauce – As suggested by Stephanie Keeping of SpaceshipsandLaserBeams.com in her version of this recipe, caramel sauce would go great with this dump cake.
Can You Make This 4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake Recipe Without Stirring?
Unfortunately, no. As I said earlier, some dump cake purists argue that since this recipe requires stirring, it isn’t really a dump cake, so you might be wondering if it’s possible to make this without stirring the ingredients.
I thought about it, and I don’t think this will work without stirring. As I say in the video, all chocolate cake recipes call for stirring–I think that agitating ingredients by mixing helps to combine the dry and wet ingredients. However, if you do make this dump cake without stirring, let me know how it turns out.
How to Tell When the Dump Cake is Done?
As with other chocolate cake recipes, it can be hard to tell when this dump cake is done since the cake doesn’t turn golden brown. You can tell that your 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake is done when:
It pulls away from the edge – Look for a small gap between the edge of the cake and the pan.
The top looks dry – The top of the cake no longer looks wet.
A toothpick comes out clean – If you insert a toothpick into the cake, it should come out clean, or in this case, mostly clean. This dump cake is supposed to be more moist than other chocolate cakes, so taking it out of the oven when the toothpick still doesn’t come out totally clean is OK.
Is 4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake Supposed to Be Gooey?
Yes, to an extent, especially if served warm. This 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake is supposed to be more moist than normal chocolate cakes. And with chocolate chips, some are going to melt slightly, making the cake gooey, especially if it’s served warm.
Although the dump cake should be gooey, it shouldn’t be runny, especially when cooled. If you slice into the cake and it’s runny inside, it’s underdone. Likewise, if it’s gooey at room temperature, it’s underdone, too. If you find that your dump cake is underdone, simply put it in the oven for about 10 more minutes.
How to Store 4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake
Storing your 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake is easy: simply put the entire pan in the refrigerator. If there isn’t enough room for a 9×13 pan, you can cut the cake into smaller pieces.
Although you could cover the pan with foil, I wouldn’t. I think that covering the cake may trap in moisture and making the cake soggy faster, but if you feel better covering it, go ahead and cover the cake lightly.
How Long Does 4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake Last?
If stored in the refrigerator, this 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake should keep 2-3 days, possibly up to 5. However, after about the third day, it will probably start to lose flavor and get soggy.
Can You Make a Chocolate Dump Cake the Night Before?
Yes! You can definitely make chocolate dump cake the night before. Although you can make it ahead of time, I personally wouldn’t make it more than 24 hours in advance so that you can serve the cake, as well as leftovers, for a day or two before the quality starts to decline.
Can You Make a Chocolate Dump Cake in a Crockpot?
Yes! You can make a chocolate dump cake in a crockpot. I’ve never done it myself, but if you do, let me know how it turns out!
Can I Make this Recipe with Only 3 Ingredients that are Shelf-Stable?
Yes! If you only have instant pudding, cake mix, and dry or shelf-stable milk, you can still make this dump cake. It won’t be as rich without the butter, but it will be acceptable. I would increase the milk by 1/2 cup to 2 cups, and I would also make sure to spray the pan thoroughly to keep the cake from sticking.
Can I Make This Recipe Vegan?
Yes! If you have vegan chocolate cake mix and instant pudding, I think you could use plant-based milk as well. I’ve never used a vegan butter substitute, but I’m sure it would work in this recipe, too.
A Chef’s Review
This 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake recipe turned out great. With a deep, rich color and chocolate chip on top, it’s sure to grab the attention of chocolate lovers. Because of the 3 types of chocolate–pudding, cake mix, and the (optional) chips–it had a very strong chocolate flavor. Although salt and instant coffee are definitely optional, I still highly recommend them to bring out the flavor even more.
This dump cake was also very easy to make. Although a bit of stirring is required, it’s far simpler to make than most chocolate cakes since the ingredients are pre-measured and there’s minimal cleanup. And since this recipe makes a 9×13 cake, this dessert is perfect for beginner cooks who need to feed a crowd.
However, as a chef I have to admit that although this dump cake tasted good, it doesn’t have the same flavor as a “real” old-fashioned cake. If that’s what you’re looking for, this recipe isn’t for you. But if you want a quick dessert to satisfy a craving, this 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake recipe is perfect.
Possible Changes to the Recipe
Although I thought this dump cake turned out great, possible changes to the recipe include:
Different cake mix – I’m curious how a chocolate fudge or German chocolate cake mix would change the recipe.
Milk Chocolate Chips – I prefer dark chocolate, but I’m sure milk chocolate would be good in this recipe.
Peanut Butter Cups – Replacing the chocolate chips with broken mini peanut butter cups would be a good twist on this dessert.
4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake Recipe Variations
Possible variations to this 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake recipe include:
Chocolate Cherry – Cherry pie filling would put a Black Forest Cake twist on this recipe.
White Chocolate Chips – I’m sure that white chocolate chips would work in this dump cake.
Chocolate Cream Cheese – The tanginess of cream cheese would go well with the chocolate.
These are just a few–honestly, the possibilities are endless!
More Dump Cake Recipes
If you liked this 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake recipe, be sure to check out:
Apple Cobbler with Cake Mix and Pie Filling – Technically a dump cake, it’s absolutely delicious.
Cherry Cobbler with Cake Mix – This 3-ingredient dump cake cobbler is super easy to make.
Strawberry Dump Cake – If you like strawberries, you’ll love this dessert.
Other Chocolate Recipes
If you have a chocolate craving, these recipes are just what you’re looking for:
Chocolate Milk with Cocoa Powder Recipe – No need to buy chocolate milk powder–use cocoa instead!
Sweetened Condensed Milk Fudge Recipe – With just 2 ingredients, this couldn’t get any easier to make.
4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake Recipe Directions
4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 1 15.25 oz box chocolate cake mix
- 1 3.9 oz box instant chocolate pudding
- 1.5 cups milk (360g)
- 1 stick butter, unsalted (113g)
- Optional:
- 1 12 oz bag chocolate chips (technically optional, but highly recommended)
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- After greasing a 9×13 pan, melt the butter and then pour it into the baking pan, distributing it as evenly as possible.
- Sprinkle in the instant pudding as evenly as possible.
- Dump in the cake mix. Once again, try to spread it out evenly. If you want to, you can use a spoon or fork to even it out–but since the ingredients will be mixed together to form a batter, this isn’t necessary.
- If using, add the instant coffee and salt.
- Pour in the milk and mix the ingredients to form a batter.
- Smooth out the batter evenly.
- If using, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the batter. Although not necessary to make this recipe, I highly recommend adding chocolate chips–they take this dump cake to the next level and make it super chocolatey.
- Bake the 4-ingredient chocolate dump cake at 350F, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Allow it to cool slightly before serving.
YouTube Video:
Be sure to watch my YouTube video tutorial:
