If you love an easy dessert with a big payoff, this easy rhubarb dump cake is hard to beat. It’s sweet, tangy, buttery, and practically effortless to make — the kind of old-fashioned treat that disappears fast, especially served warm with a scoop of melting vanilla ice cream.
Rhubarb is one of those old-fashioned ingredients that can do a little bit of everything, from simple cakes like this one to muffins, bars, jams, and other spring favorites. If you have a rhubarb patch or a neighbor who gives you some, lucky you!
💥 Rustic Rhubarb Bread - A delicious rustic rhubarb bread. Not too sweet, but slightly tangy. No mixer, one bowl. Tender and moist, lovely crumb.
Rhubarb Cookies - These cookies are wonderful, sweet, and chewy, with bits of tangy rhubarb. Eat them plain or with the optional cream cheese frosting!
Gorgeous Rhubarb Poke Cake - This moist, delicious poke cake starts with a yellow cake mix, then is infused with a sweet-tangy rhubarb sauce.
I have never quite embraced the term "dump cake," but I sure can get excited about this easy rhubarb dump cake recipe! Dump cakes go together quickly because the cake ingredients are "dumped" into a baking dish without much preparation or mixing.
Dump cakes became popular when cake mixes started showing up in stores. Women were thrilled with how fast they could whip up a dessert. Cooks are endlessly creative, and over the years, cake mixes have turned into dump cakes, cookies, quickbreads, and bars.
In this recipe, only the dry mix is used! Dump cakes have been around since poodle skirts, but they are every bit as popular now as ever because of our go-go-go, endlessly busy lives.
• "Stupid easy" to make
• Sweet and tangy rhubarb flavor
• Buttery cake topping
• Perfect served warm with vanilla ice cream
Rhubarb can range in color from green to pink to red. The color is no indication of ripeness or sweetness, like it is with other fruits. Our rhubarb is a green-stem variety, not as red as others. It's not as pretty, but it's every bit as tasty! Begin by chopping four cups of rhubarb.
You can also use frozen rhubarb, either your own or some you buy in the grocery store. If you use frozen rhubarb, don't defrost it; just toss it with some flour.
Put the rhubarb in the bottom of a sprayed or greased 13″ by 9″ baking pan. I love this David Burke Gourmet Pro pan I picked up at Marshall's.
I want a whole cupboard full of his bakeware! It's so heavy, and nothing sticks! The rose gold color is perfect for this pretty rhubarb dump cake!
Now mix the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the chopped rhubarb. The sugar will help draw moisture out of the rhubarb as it bakes.
Now sprinkle a box of dry strawberry Jell-O over the rhubarb. In my case, this red gelatin really "pretties up" my green rhubarb! If you prefer, you could use raspberry or cherry jello.
Next, sprinkle a 15.25-ounce box of dry yellow cake mix over the rhubarb layer, distributing it as evenly as possible. Don't stress over imperfection (you know I never do!); rusticity is part of the charm of a dump cake!
Drizzle one cup of cold water over everything. Then, pour five tablespoons of melted butter over the dry mix as evenly as possible. I usually melt my butter in a lip-rimmed glass measuring cup and drizzle it on as evenly as I can. (I am not known for my precision.)
Resist the urge to stir or mix the ingredients. Don't! Pop the pan into a 350-degree oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top gets golden brown and the rhubarb is hot and bubbly. Now you see the pretty red color peeking out in the pan!
This easy rhubarb dump cake begs to be served warm with a great big scoop of the best vanilla ice cream you can find!
Enjoy this yummy cake and spring, with all its "rhubarbian" delights, that we bake! Later on, you'll be glad you froze some so you can make this amazingly easy rhubarb dump cake for the holidays or any old blustery winter day when you need a smile.
This dessert is definitely good to the last bite. You may even want to lick the bowl if no one is looking! If you've got some extra rhubarb, try these!
Rhubarb Swirl Dessert -Fluffy vanilla pudding swirled with strawberry-rhubarb sits beautifully on a crisp graham cracker crust. This recipe makes a beautiful, cool, and creamy dessert.
Oatmeal Rhubarb Bars - This wonderful Amish recipe makes perfect oatmeal rhubarb bars with the butteriest oatmeal crust a tangy sweet rhubarb filling.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam - Easy homemade jam for beginners, delicious enough you'll want to make some every year!
Can I use frozen rhubarb for dump cake?
Yes. Frozen rhubarb works fine in this recipe. You can use it straight from the freezer without thawing first, but toss it with a small amount of flour. The baking time may need to be a teeny bit longer if it is very icy.
Do I need to stir a dump cake before baking?
No. One of the neat things about a dump cake is that the ingredients are layered in the pan and left alone. Resist the urge to stir so the fruit layer and buttery topping can form properly as it bakes.
What flavor gelatin works best with rhubarb?
Strawberry is a classic choice because it adds sweetness, color, and a flavor that pairs beautifully with tart rhubarb. Raspberry or cherry gelatin can also work well.
How do I serve rhubarb dump cake?
Rhubarb dump cake is especially good served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. It also makes a wonderful simple dessert for potlucks and spring suppers.
Here's an easy dump cake using fresh or frozen rhubarb, a yellow cake mix, and a box of strawberry jello. You can throw this together in minutes and be out of the kitchen in less than an hour!
You can use a white cake, butter cake, or vanilla cake mix instead of a yellow cake mix. You can substitute raspberry or cherry jello for strawberry jello.
We live in the country, and our electric supplier, Dawson Public Power, and the Nebraska Rural Electric Association send us a great little publication called Nebraska Magazine every month. It always has interesting articles about businesses and events in our great state.
In each issue, there's a page with recipes submitted by readers. And almost every month, I find the magazine opened to that page on my kitchen island courtesy of Papa. This easy rhubarb dump cake recipe is from Meribeth Kelsey from North Platte, Nebraska. Thank you, Meribeth!
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Love GB (Betty Streff)
Real food. Real kitchen. Real easy.
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Can this be done in a crockpot
Sorry, Phil, I have no idea. I have never baked a cake in a crockpot. Tell me more, please.
hello, betty -
this recipe makes a 9x13 cake, which is a lot for just the two of us. could some of it be frozen?
i've got rhubarb up in the yard & getting bigger fast - so i was glad to see this recipe.
(all the perennials are growing fast now that we finally got some warm weather here! i hope that you were spared the latest bad storms that hit parts of the midwest.)