My Menu Mentor · mymenumentor.com/recipes/brown-butter-pecan-dump-cake
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Brown Butter Pecan Dump Cake
A boxed yellow cake mix transformed by browned butter and toasted pecans into a dense, caramelized dessert that requires no mixing bowls.
- Prep
- 15 minutes
- Cook
- 45 minutes
- Total
- 1 hour
- Yield
- one 9x13 pan
Print the card
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Most dump cakes fail because they rely on cold butter scattered unevenly over dry cake mix, resulting in a finished dessert that is half molten fruit and half dusty, unbaked powder. The technique that fixes this is melting the butter first, allowing it to saturate the dry mix completely before it ever reaches the oven.
Browning that butter before pouring it over the cake mix elevates a convenience product into something that tastes intentional. The milk solids in the butter toast and develop a deep, nutty aroma that mirrors the toasted pecans, while the underlying fruit layer provides the necessary moisture to steam the cake mix from below.
This dessert is best served warm, roughly twenty minutes out of the oven, when the fruit is still bubbling but the crust has had time to set. It pairs well with unsweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, and any leftovers can be stored at room temperature for up to three days, though the crust will soften over time.
What you need
Ingredients
Measurements
Metric converts only measures that are mathematically safe. Density-dependent cups stay as Nicole wrote them.
Scaling this one
This recipe is written to fill one 9x13 pan, so there is no batch slider: doubling the quantities would not give you a deeper pan, it would give you two of them — and the bake time and temperature below would no longer be right. To make more, run the recipe twice in separate tins rather than crowding one.
Fruit Base
- 2 cans (21 ounces each) peach pie filling
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Topping
- 1 box (15.25 ounces) yellow cake mix
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, lightly toasted
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
How it goes
Method
Read the whole thing once before you start. Nothing here is difficult, but the timing is unforgiving at the end.
Prepare the baking pan
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray to prevent the fruit filling from adhering to the edges during the long bake.
Layer the fruit base
Pour both cans of peach pie filling into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the ground cinnamon and nutmeg evenly over the fruit, then stir gently directly in the pan to distribute the spices.
Add the dry cake mix
Sprinkle the dry yellow cake mix evenly over the spiced peach filling. Do not stir the cake mix into the fruit; it must remain in a distinct layer to form the crust.
Brown the butter
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue cooking, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter foams and the milk solids at the bottom turn a deep golden brown and smell nutty, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Saturate the cake mix
Immediately pour the hot browned butter evenly over the dry cake mix, ensuring as much of the powder is moistened as possible. Sprinkle the toasted pecans and kosher salt evenly over the top.
Bake until golden
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the fruit filling is bubbling vigorously around the edges and the pecan-studded crust is deep golden brown and firm to the touch.
On the bench
Equipment
All 2 of these change the result. Nothing here is a brand recommendation — the spec is what matters.
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9x13-inch baking dish
The recipe's fruit-to-topping ratio and bake time are calibrated for a 9x13 pan; using a different size will change depth, bake time, and the formation of the crust.
- What matters
- A 9x13-inch ovenproof baking dish (glass, ceramic, or metal) with at least 2-inch sides to contain bubbling fruit.
- Search for
- “9x13 baking dish ovenproof” (paid link)
Medium saucepan (for browning butter)
Browning the butter requires a saucepan with enough surface area to see the milk solids change color and to swirl the butter without scorching.
- What matters
- 2- to 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan with a light-colored interior so you can judge the color of the milk solids while browning.
The list
What to buy
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Cook's notes
What we would tell a friend
- If you notice dry patches of cake mix halfway through baking, do not stir them. Instead, lightly spritz the dry areas with water or drizzle with a tablespoon of melted butter.
- The pecans must be toasted before baking to ensure they remain crisp against the moisture of the cake and fruit.
- For a variation, substitute cherry or apple pie filling for the peaches, adjusting the spices to match the fruit profile.
From the kitchen
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