This cherry cheesecake dump cake is so easy! Use graham crackers, cherry pie filling, a cake mix, and (vegan) butter and cream cheese. Just “dump” it and forget it! Read more to learn about the vegan-friendly ingredients used in this easy dessert recipe.
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Lately, I’ve been all about the quick and easy. Oh sure, we can spend hours pouring over cooking cookbooks, reading through complicated recipes, and standing in front of the stove – but lately, since going back to work, it seems like I just can’t get it together enough to do that! But I still need to eat…and we all need dessert!
For more quick and easy vegan-friendly desserts, try:
- Easy Peach Dump Cake with White Chocolate Chips
- Cookie Dough Hummus
- Apple Spice Cake in the Slow Cooker
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What you will need to make this easy vegan dessert:
- vegan-friendly white cake mix like Duncan Hines
- cherry pie filling
- graham crackers
- vegan butter
- vegan cream cheese
- vanilla
- (optional) nuts – I like macadamia nuts
- You’ll also need a 9×13 cake pan.
How to make cherry cheesecake dump cake:
You’ll start out by drizzling a little melted butter into the bottom of the cake pan. We do this to make it so the cheesecake won’t stick to the pan, but also so that the graham crackers will soften up some and form a nice graham cracker crust.
Place six graham crackers on top of the melted butter. This will be the bottom layer.
Next, spoon out two large cans of cherry pie filling on top of the graham crackers and smooth out evenly.
Then, mix up the vanilla and vegan cream cheese. This will add flavor and also help to soften the cream cheese so that you can easily dollop.
Go ahead and dollop that beautiful cream cheese!
A word about the vegan cream cheese:
You will need to use a commercially purchased cream cheese. I know a lot of plant-eaters like to make their own cream cheese out of tofu…which is great for spreading on a cracker. But for this recipe, you need a cream cheese that gets nice and melty – and tofu doesn’t melt. I am using Kite-Hill plain cream cheese today. It works great.
After you’ve dolloped the cream cheese layer, sprinkle a white cake mix on top.
Vegan-friendly cake mix:
Duncan HInes is known as an “accidentally vegan” product. That is, they didn’t set out trying to make it vegan, but it doesn’t contain any animal products.
There are two exceptions for you to know about though – we don’t know where the sugar is sourced and most commercial (cheap) sugar is processed using bone char. Also, if palm oil is used, we don’t know the source either. So read the above-linked articles, do your own thinking, and decide for yourself.
Optional nuts:
I think that macadamia nuts are just the right touch for this recipe. Sliced almonds are also really tasty as are pecans. You can also leave them out if you don’t want to use nuts.
If you do use nuts and they aren’t already chopped fine, chop them up really small. I like to use this handy countertop mini food processor. It’s small enough that I don’t have to worry about putting it away between uses so it’s always ready to go!
The final layer is the vegan butter. If you have sliced butter, it’s super easy to just slice up and evenly place on top. But if you have tub butter then that works too. Simply melt and drizzle on top.
Bake that cake!
Put the cherry cheesecake dump cake in a preheated 350° oven for about 40 minutes. You will know it’s done when the top is golden. You don’t have to do any special tests for doneness. This is a “dump” cake and it will be messy and wet inside.
Serving suggestions:
Allow to cool on the countertop until it’s room temperature. It’s like a cheesecake – you wouldn’t want to serve it warm. If you put it in the refrigerator to keep, allow to sit for a few minutes to come to room temperature. If the dump cake is ice-cold, it won’t cut well because the butter will have hardened in the refrigerator.
Just scoop it out and serve!
I often recommend a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top or a dollop of coconut cream on top. But in this case, the cherry cheesecake is plenty flavorful and doesn’t really need anything but a fork!
And now for the recipe!
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Equipment
- 9×13 pan
- oven
Ingredients
- 6 graham crackers (the full rectangle sheet)
- 3/4 cup vegan butter divided into two steps ¼ cup and ½ cup
- 2 21 ounce canned cherry pie filling
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 box cake mix (white)
- 3/4 cup (optional) nuts, chopped I used macademia nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Melt 1/4 cup vegan butter and line the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Tilt to spread evenly.
- Place 6 full (retangle) graham cracker sheets in the bottom of the pan on top of the melted butter.
- Add the two cans of cherry pie filling, spreading evenly.
- Mix the vanilla into the vegan cream cheese and stir well. The vegan cream cheese should be light and fluffy and very spreadable.
- In small even portions, dollop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture on top of the cherry pie filling layer.
- Sprinkle the cake mix evenly on top.
- If you are adding the optional nuts to the top, chop if necesssary, and sprinkle evenly.
- Add the remaining 1/2 cup butter to the top of the cake mix layer. You can either slice and place evenly (if you have stick butter), or melt and drizzle.
- Bake in a 350° oven for about 35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
- Take out of the oven and allow cooling to room temperature.
- Store leftover covered in the refrigerator. If the dump cake is quite cold, you'll want to go ahead and dish out and then let sit for a few minutes to come closer to room temperature. This will allow the flavors to come through better and the butter won't be rock solid.
