The 3-Ingredient Peach Cake You'll Want To Make Year-Round

If you're looking for a simple summertime dessert to use up the wealth of peaches available right now, a three-ingredient peach dump cake will have you in and out of the kitchen with minimal effort. The beginner-friendly dump cake is similar to a cobbler, so called because it involves literally dumping fruit into a baking pan and topping it with cake mix and butter before baking. 

The simplest peach dump cake just requires you to add your cut peaches to the bottom of a pan and pour dry yellow cake mix over the top along with solid slices of butter. The cold butter slowly melts into the cake mix as you bake it, adding moisture and flavor. That's all you need because the juice from the peaches provides enough liquid for this recipe. But the amount of juice varies based on the ripeness of the peaches. For fresh or frozen peaches, you can add sugar to encourage juices to release, but don't add more than 6 tablespoons per cup of peaches, as too much liquid will result in a runny texture. For canned peaches, you can just use the juice they came in. Most recipes advise you avoid stirring the mixture, but it's important that you distribute the ingredients evenly so everything bakes evenly. 

There isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to make a dump cake. You can customize it to suit your tastes and the ingredients you have in the pantry. During the summertime, fresh peaches may be plentiful, but if you're looking to make this year-round, fresh peaches aren't necessarily better than canned or frozen. If the juices are too thin, add a little cornstarch to the next batch.

You can also switch up the flavor of the boxed cake mix by using chocolate, white, or even Funfetti to give the peach dump cake a unique twist. And since a dump cake is similar to a cobbler, you can even add cinnamon rolls to the top instead of cake mix for extra spice and interest. Or add that with extras like nuts or crumble topping for texture. Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream also pairs nicely when you're ready to serve. All this versatility makes the effortless dump cake perfect for a last-minute make-ahead picnic dessert.