Caramel Apple Skillet Dump Cake

This caramel apple skillet dump cake is like if apple pie and sticky toffee pudding had a baby. Perfectly soft spiced caramel apples mixed throughout a moist spiced brown sugar cake, all covered in even more caramel sauce... 

It's so good, I'm considering swapping out the traditional Thanksgiving apple pie for this instead! Mark this recipe down on your baking to-do list, because you need to make this dump cake.

For more comforting fall recipes, try Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting, Brown Butter Snickerdoodles, Apple Cider Bundt Cake, and Pecan Brownie Pie. 

Why you'll love this caramel apple dump cake

• Spiced Brown Sugar Cake: This super moist spiced brown sugar cake makes for the perfect vessel to hold all of those spiced caramel apples. 
• Notes of Brown Butter: Though it requires an extra step, the brown butter takes the cake to a whole new level. 
• Spiced Caramel Apples: Think perfectly cooked apples coated in homemade caramel sauce with fall spices. Um YES PLEASE.
• Homemade Caramel Sauce: Honestly homemade caramel sauce is superior to store-bought, but if buying it from the store gets you to make this cake, then by all means, do it! 

What is dump cake?

Dump cake is traditionally made with store-bought cake mix and canned fruit, and made all in one pan. Essentially, the all of the ingredients are mixed up in the same pan that it's baked in, making it an easy, no-fuss recipe.

If you know me, then you know that I'm not afraid of a little fuss and in my opinion that's what makes a from-scratch recipe better than the rest. My version of dump cake is a little fancied up, but still a true oven to table recipe!

Ingredient Notes

• Homemade Caramel Sauce: You could use store-bought or make this recipe!
• Fall Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
• Butter: I browned the butter for both the cake batter and pre-cooking the apples, but you can absolutely skip this and just melt the butter.
• Honeycrisp Apples: I find that honeycrisp apples have the perfect balance of sweetness and hold their shape well in the oven, but you could also use granny smith or pink lady.
• Brown Sugar: Since this is a brown sugar cake, this is the only sugar you need! I used dark brown sugar for a deeper molasses flavor, but you could also use light brown sugar.
• Flour: Use high-quality, unbleached all-purpose flour.
• Leaveners: You'll need both baking powder and baking soda to give this cake the perfect amount of rise.
• Egg: Just one egg for the cake!
• Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce adds moisture and even more apple flavor to the cake!
• Buttermilk: If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can swap it for an equal amount of whole milk.
• Turbinado Sugar: Top the cake with turbinado sugar just before baking to give it a sweet, crunchy top.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

This recipe requires some prep and a little bit of back and forth, but don't be intimidated! Because trust me, it is SO worth it in the end. For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Brown the butter. Brown the butter for the cake batter, then allow to cool in the fridge. Meanwhile, make the spiced caramel apples.

STEP 2: Prep apples. Peel and cut about 2 honeycrisp apples into thin slices. 

STEP 3: Mix. Mix the fall spices in the caramel sauce. 

STEP 4: Cook. Melt the butter in the cast iron skillet over medium heat until browned, then add the apples and brown sugar, and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Drain the apple juices, then pour in the spiced caramel sauce and cook for another minute. Allow to cool. 

STEP 5: Whisk. Back to the cake batter - take the brown butter out of the fridge, and whisk in the brown sugar, then the eggs & vanilla. Alternate mixing in the dry and wet ingredients. 

STEP 6: Fold. Lastly, fold in the spiced caramel apples. 

STEP 7: Bake. Pour the cake batter back into the cast iron skillet, smooth out the top, then sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for about 35 minutes. 

STEP 8: Cool and top. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, then drizzle more caramel sauce on top. Enjoy warm with a big scoop of ice cream!

Expert Baking Tips

• If making homemade caramel, I recommend making at least an hour before (or up to a week before) making the cake to give it time to cool down and thicken up. 
• Start with an extra couple tablespoons of butter, since water evaporates as it browns. Also, keep in mind that European-style butter has less water content, so if you're using American-style butter you might want to start with even more butter.
• Don't add ingredients to the hot brown butter. Chill it in the fridge for about 15 minutes to bring it to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.
• Be sure to cut your apples into equally thin slices, so they will cook at the same rate.
• I used honeycrisp apples, but you could also use another baking apple, such as granny smith or pink lady. 

Storage Tips

Store this caramel apple skillet dump cake covered at room temperature or in the fridge for 2-3 days. 

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x