Chocolate Caramel Dump Cake

Chocolate caramel dump cake has chewy edges, a soft chocolate center, and little pockets of melted chocolate chips. Some of the caramel bakes into the top. The rest goes on right before serving, so you get that buttery caramel flavor even in a spoonful from the middle. Set out the vanilla ice cream while the cake rests and it’ll be just soft enough to scoop when you need it.

You can mix the batter right in the baking pan. A box of devil’s food cake mix gives it a deep cocoa flavor, and instant chocolate pudding mix helps keep the crumb moist. The oven does most of the work. Your part is making sure the milk reaches every corner of the pan and the caramel goes on in thin ribbons.

What Makes This Cake Soft and Fudgy?

The pudding mix thickens the milk as you stir. By the time the chocolate chips go in, the batter is thick enough to spread with a spatula. The chips stay scattered through the cake, and the caramel drizzled over the top settles into the shallow grooves you make with a knife. Those grooves give you a little caramel here and there as you scoop through the pan.

The cake also changes as it cools. After 15 minutes, the edges hold their shape and the center is soft enough to serve with a spoon. Give the pan longer on the counter and you can lift out squares with a small spatula. If you’re making dessert for a group, the first approach is handy. Everyone can pick their own portion and add a scoop of ice cream while the cake is still warm.

Chocolate Dump Cake Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
• 1 (15.25-ounce) box devil’s food cake mix
• 1 (3.9-ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1¾ cups cold whole milk
• ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• ½ cup thick caramel sauce, divided

Cake mix. Look for a 15.25-ounce box in the baking aisle. Some boxes on the same shelf are 13.25 ounces, so check the weight printed on the front. The amount of milk here is for the larger box. Measure it out and set the directions on the back of the box aside.

Pudding and milk. The word instant matters. Instant pudding thickens in cold milk, which lets you stir the batter and get it into the oven in one go. A small box of cook-and-serve chocolate pudding can look almost identical on the shelf. Check the label for both the type and the weight. Refrigerated whole milk gives the cake a tender crumb and mixes easily with both powders.

Chocolate chips. Semisweet chips are a good match for sweet caramel. A half cup goes into the batter, where the chips soften as the cake bakes. The last quarter cup goes across the surface. Regular-size chips give you distinct pockets of chocolate, while mini chips spread the chocolate more evenly through each bite.

Caramel sauce. Choose a thick, spoonable caramel ice cream topping. If you lift a spoonful, the caramel should fall in a steady ribbon. A very runny syrup is harder to swirl because it spreads over the surface before you can drag the knife through it. If the sauce is too thick to fall off the spoon, you only need to warm it enough to loosen it.

Substitutions and Additions

A darker chocolate cake. Swap the devil’s food mix for the same size box of chocolate fudge cake mix, or use bittersweet chocolate chips in place of semisweet. The latter is a good choice if your caramel is especially sweet. You’ll taste the difference most in the warm bites where the chips are still soft.

Salted caramel. Use ½ cup of thick salted caramel sauce, divided the same way. If you already have regular caramel, sprinkle up to ¼ teaspoon of flaky sea salt over the finished cake after the last drizzle. Start with a few flakes on one serving to see how much you like. The flakes stay visible and give you a tiny crunch against the soft crumb.

Chocolate turtle-style cake. Toast ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring until they smell nutty. Transfer them to a plate to cool, then scatter them over the caramel right before serving. The sauce catches the pieces so they stay on top when you scoop.

A peanut butter twist. Replace ¼ cup of the semisweet chips with peanut butter chips when you fold them into the batter. Keep the quarter cup of semisweet chips for the top. Peanut butter chips are sweet, so the smaller amount leaves plenty of room for the caramel flavor to come through.

How to Make Chocolate Caramel Dump Cake

Step One. Grease the pan

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 350°F. Rub the butter over the bottom and sides of a light-colored 9×13-inch metal baking pan. Pay attention to the corners, where a spatula has to reach later. Set out a silicone spatula and a butter knife. You’ll want the knife handy once you’ve drizzled the caramel.

Step Two. Mix the batter in the pan

Empty the dry cake mix and dry pudding mix into the pan. Stir the powders together with the spatula, breaking up any large lumps. Pour in about 1¼ cups of the milk in a wide sweep across the pan. Stir from the middle out, then add the last ½ cup and fold until you can drag the spatula through the batter without uncovering dry powder.

Baking tip. Run the edge of the spatula where the bottom of the pan meets the sides. Powder collects along that seam even when the batter on top looks evenly mixed. A little batter pressed against the seam will pick it up.

Step Three. Fold in the chocolate chips

Scatter ½ cup of the chips evenly over the batter. Fold them in with a few broad strokes, then smooth the batter from the middle out to the corners. The batter will hold the marks from your spatula for a moment. Level out any thick mounds so the middle and the ends bake at a similar pace.

Step Four. Swirl in the caramel

Measure ¼ cup of caramel sauce. If it’s stiff from the refrigerator, microwave it in a small microwave-safe cup in 5- to 10-second bursts, stirring between each burst. Drizzle it over the batter in narrow lines, leaving a little room at the edges. Pull the tip of a butter knife through the lines in a few shallow passes. Sprinkle on the last ¼ cup of chocolate chips.

Two or three passes in each direction are plenty. You want to be able to see where you’ve drawn the caramel into the batter. Keep the tip near the surface so the sauce sits just under the top as the cake bakes.

Step Five. Bake until the middle sets

Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes. Check at 35 minutes. The outer edge should look set, and the middle should stay steady when you gently nudge the pan. Slide a toothpick into a chocolate part near the center, between the visible streaks of caramel and away from the chips. A few damp crumbs are fine. If you pull up wet cake batter, bake for another 3 to 5 minutes and check again.

A toothpick through a melted chip can come out with a shiny smear. Try a second spot nearby if the first one is hard to read. With a dark cake like this one, those two quick checks tell you more than the color of the top.

Step Six. Let the cake rest, then add more caramel

Set the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Drizzle the remaining ¼ cup of caramel over the warm cake, or divide it between the portions as you serve. Use a wide spoon to lift some of the edge along with the soft cake underneath. If you prefer squares, let the cake cool a little longer before cutting.

Tips for Good Edges and a Tender Center

Keep the caramel away from the perimeter. Leave a border of about half an inch when you drizzle it onto the raw batter. Sauce that runs down the sides can collect against the pan, where the sugars turn sticky and make the corner pieces harder to lift. This also leaves a little more caramel in the middle portions.

Let the pan cool on a rack. A wire rack lets air move under the hot pan as well as over it. The outer edge will still feel warm when you go to serve, but the top will have settled enough to hold the final drizzle. If you’re bringing the cake to a gathering, add that drizzle after you uncover the pan so the foil stays clean.

Cut after cooling for tidy squares. For portions you can put straight on dessert plates, give the cake about 40 to 45 minutes after it comes out of the oven. Cut it into three rows by four. Wipe chocolate and caramel off the knife between cuts, especially if you plan to move the squares to a platter.

How to Serve It

A warm spoonful and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream are plenty. Try setting the ice cream just to the side so it melts into the plate and you can run each bite of cake through it. If you already drizzled the full pan with caramel, there will be enough sauce to catch a little of it on the way to the ice cream.

For a topping that’s less sweet, use a spoonful of softly whipped, unsweetened cream. Spoon it on beside the pecan version so the toasted nuts stay crisp until you take a bite. Fresh raspberries on the side add a little tartness if you’re serving the cake after a big meal.

At a potluck, keep the cake in the pan and bring the reserved caramel in a small lidded container. The cake will be easier to carry after it’s had time to firm up. Drizzle the caramel in the last few minutes before you set it out, and put a broad serving spoon or a small spatula beside the pan. For a crowd that wants a little of everything, cut the squares in half to make 24 smaller bites.

Making Ahead and Storing Leftovers

Make it a day ahead. Bake the cake, let it cool briefly on the rack, and refrigerate it covered. Save the last ¼ cup of caramel for the next day. As the cake chills, the crumb gets firmer and the chips set again. That works well if you’ll be serving slices and want them ready to lift onto plates. Cut the chilled cake with a thin knife and start lifting from a corner. For a neat finish, let the reserved caramel come to a spoonable consistency before drizzling it over each piece.

Refrigerate. Transfer leftovers to a shallow, covered container and refrigerate at 40°F or below. Put them away within 2 hours of baking, or within 1 hour if it’s above 90°F where you’re serving. Eat refrigerated portions within 3 to 4 days. Store any reserved caramel according to its label.

Freeze. Freeze individual pieces in airtight freezer containers for up to 2 months for the best texture. Add the final caramel drizzle when you serve the thawed pieces. To thaw, move only the portions you need to the refrigerator the night before.

Reheat. Put one portion on a microwave-safe plate and cover it loosely. Heat in short bursts, rotating the plate between bursts if needed, until the center reaches 165°F. Let it stand briefly before adding caramel or ice cream. Heating pieces individually helps keep the edges of the rest of the cake from drying out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it called a dump cake if you stir it?

The name comes from the way you add the ingredients directly to the baking pan. Fruit dump cakes often have a wet fruit layer under a dry topping. Here, a few strokes of the spatula bring the milk and both dry mixes together. You still use one pan to do the mixing and baking.

Can I mix it the night before and bake it the next day?

It’s best to bake the batter as soon as you’ve spread it in the pan. Instant pudding starts thickening the moment you add the milk, which makes a chilled batter harder to spread and swirl. If you need a head start, measure the chocolate chips and caramel beforehand and leave the dry mixes in their packages until the oven is hot.

Can I use homemade caramel sauce?

Yes. Let it cool before you judge the thickness. Warm homemade caramel can seem much thinner than it will be at room temperature. Once it’s thick enough to drizzle in ribbons, measure ½ cup and use it exactly as you would jarred sauce. Dulce de leche is thicker, so if you use it, warm it and place small spoonfuls across the batter before swirling.

How do I make enough for a larger crowd?

Use two 9×13-inch pans and make one batch in each. If your oven can only fit one pan on the middle rack with room for air to circulate, bake the cakes in separate batches and mix the second just before it goes in. Keep the caramel for both pans handy so you can finish them at the same time.

If you’re choosing the first piece, go for a corner with a stripe of caramel. The rim has a little chew, and the part just inside it is soft enough that you can catch both textures in the same bite.