Making a Dump

HAHAHAHA. Fooled ya!  Here we are, a month into TRFD, and I've lulled you into a false sense of security.  You probably think that I'm a rather proper young lady, what with my propriety and lack of swearing.  What you didn't know is that I swear like a sailor, and my mind is in the gutter 99% of the time. Hence, this post's title.

No, it doesn't refer to poop. In my family, there is a seeming inability to go through a family or holiday dinner without the conversation veering, at one or more points, to poop.  Don't ask.  For our purposes, we're not going to focus on poop, but on a Dump...Cake!  Delicious, delicious dumpyness.

Grandma's Dump Cake
This recipe is courtesy of my grandmother-in-law, who always makes some amazing dessert from a recipe she clipped out of a newspaper at some point in the last 20 years.  I finally remembered to write this down the last time we visited her, only to discover that if I had taken 3.2 seconds and done a Google search I would have found it's a very common recipe, and I could have been making this for the last 6 years.  FAIL.

What You'll Need
1 can crushed pineapple
1 can cherry pie filling (I used the Lite version made with Splenda)
1 yellow cake mix (I used the store brand)
1 stick unsalted butter
Cooking spray

What To Do:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Spray a cake pan thoroughly with the cooking spray, then DUMP the crushed pineapple into the bottom (don't drain them first!).

T or F: This looks like horseradish. 

Next, DUMP the cherry pie filling on top of the pineapple; spread it out into a thin layer so it evenly covers the pineapple.

I was sorely tempted to start eating the cherries.

Then, DUMP the yellow cake mix over the first two layers.  I used my fingers to crumble up the clumpy parts and spread out the powder so that the fruit was invisible.

At this point, I popped the cake pan into the oven, toodled off to do something else, then rushed back because I realized I'd forgotten the butter.

And lo, there was butter, very thinly sliced.

Since my cake had already started to heat up in the oven, the butter melted as soon as I DUMPed it on the cake.

Have you figured it out yet? This is called a DUMP cake because all you have to do is DUMP the ingredients into the pan.  Genius!

After averting the butter disaster, the dump cake baked for about 40 minutes, which was long enough for the top to get a nice, golden brown crust.

For some reason, it looks like I just drizzled maple syrup all over the top of this cake. In reality, the butter melts into the cake mix and it cooks into a soft, puffy top layer. Since the cake was so damn yummy, I dove into an enormous slice and completely forgot to take a picture. Seriously, this cake disappeared in about 3 or 4 days between the two of us.  It's best served warm, and I especially like it with some whipped cream on top.  I think next time I'm going to try this with blueberries, since they're my favorite fruit, but the acidity of the pineapple balances well with the sweetness of the cherries.  This takes about 5 minutes to make, and just as short a time for it to disappear. It's definitely one of my favorites, and if anyone tries making this with something besides cherries, I'd love to hear how it turns out!