If you love the delicious chocolate cherry combination, check out my Black Forest Cake, Black Forest Cheesecake, and these Chocolate Cherry Brownies! Dump cake is basically just a cobbler made super easy! I usually prefer to make things from scratch but every now and then a simple dump cake just tastes so darn good, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. It’s typically just three ingredients – dry cake mix, some kind of fruit filling, and butter – but you can add in a few extras like the additional chocolate chips and chopped pecans I added here for extra crunch and yummy flavor. Cherry chocolate dump cake is one of our favorite versions. It gives Black Forest cake with a fraction of the effort. This Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake recipe (aka Black Forest dump cake) uses a can of cherry pie filling and a chocolate boxed cake mix and can be baked in the oven, slow cooker, or even over a camp fire with a dutch oven if you are camping and want something other than s’mores! For more chocolate dessert recipes, try my German Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cream Pie, Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, or this Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Frosting!
Why We Love This Recipe
It’s a quick and easy recipe that’s ready in just 45 minutes with minimal prep work! Use different berries or pie fillings to make various fruit versions of this chocolate cherry dessert. We’ll be using canned cherry pie filling and a boxed cake mix to make this process super easy!
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Cherry Pie Filling – Find this in the baking aisle of grocery stores, or use my Homemade Cherry Pie Filling recipe to make your own with fresh cherries! Devil’s Food Cake Mix – Rich and indulgent, this is the best kind of chocolate box cake mix for this recipe. Use your favorite brand. Semisweet Chocolate Chips – Because why not add more chocolate flavor to a chocolate dump cake? Pecans – Chopped pecans add a great nutty flavor that works well with cherries and chocolate, as well as a great crunchy texture throughout. It’s optional for those of you who aren’t fans of nuts in desserts, but we love it! Butter – Salted butter is best for this recipe to enhance all the flavors.
How to Make Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake
Tips for Success
After sprinkling the dry cake mix, DO NOT stir the mixture. Simply follow the “dump and bake” approach. This dump cake is best enjoyed when served warm. Use a 9×13-inch baking dish for the cake to have the right consistency. A larger dish will make the mixture too thin, but a smaller dish will make it too thick, and it may not cook through.
Substitutions and Variations
3-ingredient chocolate cherry dump cake. The Betty Crocker version of this recipe only requires three ingredients: the cherry pie filling, a box of chocolate cake mix, and butter. I’ve just added in the chocolate chips and pecans for extra flavor and texture! Some shredded sweetened coconut or chopped Oreo cookies would also be a good addition! Use other fillings. Try this recipe with Peach filling and yellow cake mix for a Peach Dump Cake, my Blueberry Pie Filling for a Blueberry Dump Cake, or even my Raspberry Filling for a raspberry version. You can even combine pie fillings if you want! Use a different cake mix. You can use different kinds of chocolate cake mixes or use a yellow cake mix, a red velvet cake mix, or a cherry chip cake mix to change the flavor of this dessert. Any cake mix works! Use a can of soda in place of the butter. Sounds crazy, but it really does work. You can use any flavor you like, but cherry coke, cherry dr. pepper, root beer, or sprite are our top picks. You won’t really taste the flavor much anyway once the dump cake is baked. Just pour it over the cherry pie filling and cake mix and bake without stirring. I don’t think this as well as butter, but it’s a great solution if you are doing a dutch oven version of this cake while camping and it works at home too.
More Cherry Dessert Recipes
Cherry Pie Bars The Best Cherry Pineapple Jello Salad Vintage Cherry Cake Cherry Crisp Cherry Crisp Cake Coca-Cola Cherry Jello Salad Best Homemade Cherry Pie
Black Forest Cheesecake
Aunt Becky’s Black Forest Cherry Cake
Cherry Brownies
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