I’ve had a lot of amazing desserts in my lifetime; I’ve dined at fancy pants restaurants and been served teeny tiny little hand-dipped chocolate tea cups filled will all sorts of heavenly mousses, baked and sampled all manner of tortes and cream-filled cakes, engorged myself on fresh French pastries until I had to buy new jeans, and have licked my way through time trying to consume every possible ice cream flavor I can. But regardless of the incredible sweets I’ve savored, I’m always drawn back to one thing–pie. And since pie = fruit + crust and cobbler = fruit + crumb crust, it’s only natural that cobbler is up there on my to-die-for list as well.
This cobbler is one of my absolute favorite desserts of all time. Seriously.
I know, you’d think that I would have moved beyond the cake mix and canned pie filling concoctions by now, but guys, this stuff is good. One of the best parts about it is that you can have it in the oven in 5 minutes and be enjoying hot cobbler in under an hour from start to finish. This recipe has been around for a long time and has all sorts of variations, but I find the recipe below to be the very best. Its most common name is “Dump Cake”, referencing the fact that all the ingredients just get dumped into the pan, but I prefer to call it by a more sophisticated name: 6 Layer Miracle Cobbler. It makes it sound mysterious.
Let’s find out where these 6 layers come from and why it’s such a miracle, shall we?
Layer 1: Cherry pie filling. Pour it into a 9×13″ pan
Layer 2: Crushed pineapple, juice and all. Dump it on top of the cherries and smooth it out with a spatula into an even layer.
Layer 3: 1 box of DRY yellow cake mix. Yes, DRY cake mix. Sprinkle the entire box over the cherries and pineapple into an even layer.
Layer 4: Butter. You knew butter would be an ingredient, didn’t you? Cube 1 stick of butter into small pieces and place evenly over the cake mix.
Layers 5 & 6 Walnuts and Coconut. Sprinkle over the top of the butter.
Miracle time: Bake for about 40 minutes at 350° until golden brown and bubbly. The butter will melt, moistening the cake mix from the top, aiding in browning and crisping while the pineapple and cherries will moisten the bottom of the cake mix. When it’s all done you’ll have a perfectly crisp, sweet, tart, crumbly, gooey, chewy, and slightly salty cobbler. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream for maximum enjoyment!
Ingredients
- 1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling
- 1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, UNDRAINED
- 1 (18.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
- 1 (4 oz) stick butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 C shredded coconut
- 1/2 C chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Pour cherry pie filling into a 9x13" pan. Pour pineapple over cherries, smoothing into an even layer of fruit.
- Sprinkle entire box of DRY cake mix over the fruit, spreading into an even layer.
- Distribute small pieces of butter all over the top of the cake mix and top with the coconut and walnuts.
- Bake @ 350° for 40-45 minutes or until the top of the cobbler is golden and the fruit is bubbling up from the bottom in spots.
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This is “dump cake”!! LOL
Haha, yes it is! But I had to sensationalized the name a bit to give it some intrigue. 🙂
Holy crapoli…I thought the cherry layer was awfully thin and thought that maybe you listed the wrong sized pan. So, I put it in an 11×7 pan…and used less cake mix and butter. Hopefully my oven won’t explode. I found your recipe through Tastykitchen and maybe should have clicked on your blog link before making it to see your step-by-steps first. Although, I think this recipe may be a little fool proof. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
That’s just a plain ole cherry dump cake. Where have you been?
HI,
The first time I ever had this, it was at a friends house,it was Peach & we loved it…..that was in 1978…I watched her make it and thought she was the most clever person ! Now we love the Cherry the most and whenever I have to have a fast unexpected dessert…this is what I pop in the oven ! Thanks for the fun reminder and the great new name !
You bet Adeline! Thanks for visiting!
The 6 layer miracle cobbler is not a new recipe. It is a Dump cake and we have been making this in my family for over 40 years. Good try.
Nope, not a new recipe– just a new name to shake things up! 🙂
does it have to be yellow cake mix? what about white?
White works well too, it will just have a slightly different flavor. Not much though.
Would you make any other ingredient changes if substituting blackberries for the cherries?
I have made this dessert for many year. I add about 1/2 cup sugar and a teaspoon of almond extract. My family likes my version of this recipe. I don’t add the topping. [walnut and coconut]
Is there something we can use in place of the coconut? Or does it change the consistency if we do not use the coconut?
You can just omit it. It won’t change the finished product at all!
Looks soooooo good? I will make it this weekend when my husband
Comes in!
Thanks
Would using a chocolate cake mix hinder the recipe? I’d appreciate a response as I’m a novice cook Thank You.
Using a chocolate cake mix would definitely work but it will give it whole different flavor. It would be more of a “Black Forrest” cobbler (Chocolate = cherry) instead of your basic buttery, vanilla topping. If you try it, let me know how it worked!