Tag: dump cake

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Dessert

Sometimes it pays to give memories a fair ‘cake’

Mom’s chocolate cake is extremely moist and always receives rave reviews at gatherings. On top of that, it’s easy to make.
Mom’s chocolate cake is extremely moist and always receives rave reviews at gatherings. On top of that, it’s easy to make.

It’s amazing how memory works.

There are so many experiences from my childhood that seemed so big, so awesome, so magical, and once I experienced them again as an adult, I realized that those were better left as cherished memories than something to revisit.

I remember, for example, taking Joey to see Coronado Heights near Lindsborg for a day trip. I told him all about the castle on the hill and was excited to go back.

And yes, while the view is spectacular from the top, I will say that the towering walls of my memory weren’t quite the same ones I saw years later.

Food can be that way, too. The colored sugar water in plastic barrels I remember enjoying as a child just aren’t all that satisfying to my grown up palate.

But then there are foods that really do live up to the hype. For me, that’s my mom’s chocolate cake. I made it recently—actually I made four of them—to share with guests at our 10-year anniversary party for Harvey County Now, and based on the compliments we received, I’m not the only one who thinks it’s an amazing dessert.

Plus, the other great thing about this cake is that it’s egg- and dairy-free, for those who struggle with those foods.

So, no website for this week’s offering, just me referencing a well-worn recipe card my mom wrote for me long ago. And I didn’t make any changes to that recipe. You can’t mess with perfection, right?

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Mom’s Chocolate Cake

Mom’s chocolate cake is extremely moist and always receives rave reviews at gatherings. On top of that, it’s easy to make.
Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate cake, cocoa powder, dairy-free, dump cake, easy baking, easy cake, egg-free, moist cake, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Grease and flour a nine-by-13-inch pan, and set it aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat all the ingredients together until the batter is smooth.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the cake cool before slicing or icing it.

This cake is so incredibly moist, that my sister and I used to riot when my mom would frost it to take to a potluck. We loved it just by itself.

And it’s the same cake Joey requested for his groom’s cake for our wedding (German chocolate icing added).

I’m sure my mom will roll her eyes when she sees how much I pontificated about her cake recipe this week. I can just hear her now, “It’s just a dump cake, guys.”

But regardless of whether or not there are some nostalgia tastebuds working their magic, this is still a darn good cake, and it’s easy to make, too.

Plus, it stands up way better than my memories of eating melty Airheads candy, peeled from my towel, at the city pool in the summer.

Some things are best left in the past.

This piece first appeared in print Sept. 11, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Combo recipe is piece of cake and easy as pie

A pumpkin pie cake can be made completely with pre-packaged ingredients but tastes homemade, making it a great dessert for anyone who isn’t a big fan of baking.
A pumpkin pie cake can be made completely with pre-packaged ingredients but tastes homemade, making it a great dessert for anyone who isn’t a big fan of baking.

One of my unofficial New Year’s resolutions each year is to try to use up the random ingredients hiding in my pantry.

In this case, one of the culprits was a large can of pumpkin pie filling that I bought by mistake, thinking I found a great deal on plain canned pumpkin.

It’s been staring at me, mocking me, for months, but I’m happy to report that the can is officially off the shelf and into this week’s recipe, which was a tasty and super easy dessert to make. If you don’t consider yourself much of a baker, stow this one away for the future, because this one take absolutely zero skill to create.

This comes from the blog “The Country Cook” by Brandie Skibinski. You can find the original post at https://www.thecountrycook.net/pumpkin-pie-cake/. I added cinnamon and swapped out salted butter in my version.

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Pumpkin Pie Cake

A pumpkin pie cake can be made completely with pre-packaged ingredients but tastes homemade, making it a great dessert for anyone who isn’t a big fan of baking.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake mix recipe, cinnamon, cream cheese icing, dump cake, easy baking, easy dessert, frosting, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie filling, spice cake, spice cake mix

Ingredients

  • 30 ounces pumpkin pie filling
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 box spice cake mix
  • 1 cup butter melted
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 container frosting I used cream cheese
  • cinnamon for sprinkling

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray, and set it aside.
  • Beat the pie filling and eggs until the mixture is smooth. Add in the cake mix, butter and salt, and beat until everything is well combined.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.
  • Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the center is completely set.
  • Let it cool completely before icing it, and then sprinkling it lightly with cinnamon. Store in an airtight container.

As you can see, this really is a super easy recipe, mostly because it’s made with all pre-made ingredients. But the combination really elevates all of it. The pumpkin pie filling gives the cake just a little bit of a pie texture, which was really nice.

And I received the added benefit of getting that huge can of pumpkin pie filling out of my pantry, along with a long-forgotten cake mix and the container of frosting. Win-win-win.

Hopefully, as I continue to dig through my shelves over the next couple of months, I will be able to find more treasures that work out just as well. And hopefully I’ll read labels a little better in 2025 so I don’t find myself in this same mess next January.

This piece first appeared in print Jan. 23, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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