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You don’t need a cake mix to make this fresh peach dump cake recipe! It’s easy to throw together with pantry-staple ingredients, and it’s the perfect dessert for any summer shindig.
What’s your favorite fruity summer dessert? Angel food cake, strawberry shortcake, cherry crisp? If you’re looking for an easy dessert that’s perfect for potlucks, barbecues, or summer parties of any kind, switch things up a little with this peach cake!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Sweet, juicy peaches are the star of the show. Fresh peaches are one of the best things about summer, and this cake brings their intense flavor to the forefront.
- With minimal effort you’ll have a dessert everyone goes crazy for. Everything just gets dumped into one baking dish. And it’s always a crowd-pleaser!
What is Dump Cake?
This is a classic American dessert that falls somewhere between a cobbler, cake, and fruit crisp (depending on the topping). No tricks in the name, this recipe is exactly what it sounds like! This cake gets its name from the fact that everything is dumped into a pan without stirring the fruity bottom layer with the cake or streusel top layer.
Note that this cake doesn’t usually slice well like a regular cake. Instead, expect to serve it in a bowl similar to a fruit cobbler.
Serving Tip
This gooey, decadent fruity cake is delicious on its own. However, you can take it to the next level by serving it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Or go with a drizzle of butterscotch sauce!
Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
Cake Topping Ingredients
- Flour – For this recipe, you can use regular all-purpose flour or a gluten free flour mix that measures 1:1 for regular flour.
- Sugar – Use granulated white sugar or a sugar substitute that measures 1:1 for sugar.
- Baking powder – This is the main leavening agent in this recipe.
- Salt – Even sweet recipes need a touch of salt to enhance the flavor and make sure they’re not bland.
- Baking soda – The secondary leavening agent in this recipe.
- Unsalted butter – Butter adds rich flavor and helps the top of this cake turn a beautiful golden color.
Peach Filling Ingredients
- Peaches – If peaches are in season, go for fresh. You’ll need about 2 1/2 pounds of fresh peaches for this recipe. Wash them, remove the pits, and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Note that 2 1/2 pounds is about 6 medium-to-large-sized peaches or 6 to 7 cups chopped. If peaches aren’t in season, you can use frozen peaches instead (see the Notes in the recipe card below for instructions).
- Light brown sugar – We use brown sugar instead of white sugar here for the notes of molasses and caramel it adds.
- Vanilla extract – Vanilla goes with peach the way butter goes with corn and salt goes with tomatoes. Its flavor and aroma draws out the flavor of peaches.
- Cinnamon – Sweet, warm cinnamon pairs perfectly with peaches. If you want to bump up the spice level even more, you can also add 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or ginger.
- Salt – Believe it or not, a little bit of salt helps make the peaches taste more sweet and intensely peach-y.
- Fresh lemon juice – A little bit of acid (in the form of fresh lemon juice) balances and enhances the sweet peach flavor.
- Bourbon – Bourbon has a woody, oaky flavor with notes of caramel and vanilla that pair beautifully with peaches. Here, just a little bit of bourbon helps make a decadent fruity peach sauce on the bottom of our cake. If you don’t have bourbon, you can substitute with brandy, apple juice, or even water in a pinch.
How to Make Fresh Peach Dump Cake From Scratch
- Wash and chop the peaches. There’s no need to peel them unless you want to.
- For the topping, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda to a large bowl and whisk to combine. (Or add everything to a gallon-sized zip-top plastic bag and shake it up.)
- Add all ingredients for the peach layer to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, and stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly across the peaches. Don’t stir! We want the peach layer and topping layer separate.
- Arrange the butter slices evenly across the top.
- Bake until the cake is golden on top and the filling is bubbling around the outside, about 40 to 45 minutes at 350F.
Make Ahead Tip
If you’re going camping, mix up the dry ingredients in a gallon-sized zip-top plastic bag. You can store it in your pantry for up to 6 months ahead of time!
Storage
Store this cake covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you want reheat leftovers before serving, you can warm it in a microwave-safe dish the microwave, or in an oven-safe dish covered with foil in a preheated 350F oven.
Recipe Tips
- If peaches aren’t in season, you can use frozen peaches instead of fresh. Thaw them to room temperature first, and drain off all but 3 tablespoons of the liquid.
- We use a little splash of alcohol in this recipe, but you can use another liquid instead. The flavor of bourbon (or brandy) enhances the peach flavor beautifully. However, if you prefer, you can use juice (such as apple juice) or water instead of liquor.
- If nuts are your thing, pecans are a great addition to this cake. Sprinkle on about 1/2 cup of chopped pecans (or whatever your favorite nut is) before sprinkling on the flour mixture. With peaches, pecans, and bourbon you’ll have a cake with all the flavors of Georgia!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You’ll need 2 1/4 cups of cake mix. A 15.25-ounce box of vanilla (or yellow) cake mix has about 3 1/3 cups of dry mix, so you’ll have about 1 cup extra.
If you use a cake mix for this recipe, you can omit everything except the butter from the topping.
Dump cakes are usually done when they’re golden on top. For this cake, you’ll also notice that the filling is bubbling around the outside and just starting to bubble up through the topping in the center as well.
In general, dump cakes are a bit more gooey than other types of cake. They frequently have a fruity filling on the bottom that’s similar to pie filling.
You can store this dump cake covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. However, because of the gooey fruit filling I recommend storing it refrigerated. In the fridge it’ll keep well for up to 5 days.
More Fresh Peach Dessert Recipes
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Fresh Peach Dump Cake Recipe
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Ingredients
Cake Topping:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter chilled and very thinly sliced (for the top)
Peach Layer:
- 2 1/2 pounds fresh peaches pits removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 6 medium-to-large-sized peaches or 6 to 7 cups chopped; see Notes)
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons bourbon (or brandy, apple juice, or water)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- For the cake topping, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda to a large bowl and whisk to combine. (Or add everything to a gallon-sized zip-top plastic bag and shake it up.)
- For the peach layer, add all ingredients to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, and stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the cake topping evenly across the peaches. Don’t stir! We want the peach layer and topping layer separate.
- Arrange the butter slices evenly across the top.
- Bake until the cake is golden on top and the filling is bubbling around the outside, about 40 to 45 minutes.
- Serve hot, cold, or at room temperature.
Notes
- Peaches: If peaches aren’t in season, you can use frozen peaches instead of fresh. Thaw them to room temperature first, and drain off all but 3 tablespoons of the liquid.
- Nuts: If you want to add nuts, sprinkle on about 1/2 cup of chopped pecans (or whatever your favorite nut is) before sprinkling on the flour mixture. With peaches, pecans, and bourbon you’ll have a cake with all the flavors of Georgia!
- Serving Suggestion: This gooey, decadent fruity cake is delicious on its own. However, you can take it to the next level by serving it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Or go with a drizzle of butterscotch sauce!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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