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Skillet Apple Dumb Cake

You may have heard of dump cake recipes, like this lemon and blueberry dump cake that has been a fan favorite. But have you heard of dumb cakes? I hadn’t until recently and discovered how easy they are to make. Maybe that’s why they are called dumb cakes because you don’t have to be a master chef to make them!

I have for you an easy recipe with simple ingredients which I may call the perfect dessert called the apple dumb cake.

This dumb cake is an easy apple dessert that creates a delicious apple filling that will make one of your favorite apple desserts! This recipe uses apples, but I’m sure you could use different fresh fruits like peaches or cherries with a white cake mix instead of apples with spice cake. You can create the perfect fall season dessert the entire family will enjoy! I know that was true for my family. We LOVE this minimal-effort apple dessert delicious recipe that uses simple pantry ingredients and even apples from our own trees!

This will be for sure one of your new favorite apple recipes that will be easier to make than traditional apple pie. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE apple pie. But if you need a simpler recipe using minimal effort, try these cake mix recipes that bring about just as much flavor as an apple dessert recipe.

Skillet Apple Dumb Cake

Servings: 10

Prep: 20 minutes| Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients for the Apple Dumb Cake:

6 cups diced or chopped apples (any flavor will do, but Honeycrisp apples or granny smith fresh apples work especially well!)

1 cup butter plus 2 TBS

¼ cup sugar

¼ brown sugar

3 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp clove

2 TBS cornstarch

3 TBS water

Spice boxed cake mix

Optional: Caramel Sauce. You could use store bought, or you can mix these ingredients and make your own in just 10 minutes!

1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar, packed
4 Tbsp unsalted butter*
1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
1/2 cup half and half (or use equal parts heavy cream and milk)
1 Tbsp real vanilla extract

*If using salted butter, cut the salt to 1/2 tsp or add it to taste.

(recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen)

Directions for the Apple Dumb Cake:

Gather all of your ingredients, including diced apples, butter, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, cornstarch, water, and spiced cake mix.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3. In a cast iron baking skillet, add 2 TBS butter, diced apple, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg stirring to combine with the melted butter.

4. Cook the apple mixture on medium heat until bubbling and the apples are tender. About 4-5 minutes. This creates the fruit filling.

5. In a small bowl mix 2 TBS cornstarch with 3 TBS water.

6. Once the apples are tender, pour mixed cornstarch and water into apple mixture and cook for 1-2 more minutes until thickened. This mixture replaces a can of apple pie filling and tastes SO MUCH better! No more canned apples! (although if you do use canned apples, there is no judgment and this will taste great if you use canned apple pie filling!)

7. Spread the dry cake mix on top of the cooked apples. Spice cake mix is recommended when using apples. But other cake mixes can be used with other fruits. You may want a white cake mix with cherries or a lemon cake mix with blueberries.

8. Lay 1 cup of sliced unsalted butter across the top of the cake mix.

9. Drizzle caramel across the top of the butter. See the recipe above to make homemade caramel sauce, or use store bought.

10. Bake in the skillet (which really is the baking dish) for 20 minutes until golden brown and bubbly across the top.

11. Cool on the top of a stove or cooling rack.

12. While this may be similar to an apple cobbler or apple crisp, it is just slightly different because of the use of the cake mix.

13. This is one of the easiest dessert recipes you can use for fall. But you can use many different fruits when they are in season to create a similar skillet dumb cake! Once it is cooked, be sure to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!