Simple pumpkin dump cake recipe

With two main ingredients -- pumpkin pie mix and boxed cake mix -- this simple, seasonal dessert can be whipped up in no time.

Food blogger Karen Gifford first used baking as a source of refuge for anxiety and translated her love of cooking for family and storytelling to start her site and social channels as The Food Charlatan.

"I started my blog in the fall over a decade ago, and unashamedly posted about 14 pumpkin recipes in a row," Gifford told "Good Morning America," adding that it's "still going strong with the apple and pumpkin every fall."

Gifford, a self-proclaimed massive fan of all things pumpkin this time of year, creates family friendly recipes that kids will eat and won’t break the bank -- like this super-simple pumpkin dump cake below.

Pumpkin dump cake

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Servings 12

Ingredients

For the filling

1 30-ounce can pumpkin pie mix use pie mix, not puree!*

3 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream OR evaporated milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 & 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

For the top

1 15-ounce box yellow cake mix add it to the recipe dry, not prepared

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup pecans chopped, to mix into flour mixture (optional)

1/2 cup pecans chopped, for the top (optional)

1 cup butter melted (2 sticks)

vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for serving

salted caramel sauce for serving

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13 inch cake pan with nonstick spray, or rub with a bit of butter, focusing on the upper edges of the pan.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, add the can of pumpkin pie mix, 3 eggs, 1 cup cream, 2/3 cup sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 and 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or add spice to taste). Beat it together until the eggs are well incorporated, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Scrape the mixture into your prepared 9-by-13 inch pan and spread it out evenly.

Open up your box of yellow cake mix and dump it into a bowl.

Add 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup chopped pecans. Whisk it all together.

Sprinkle this dry mixture over the top of the pumpkin in the pan.

Top with an additional 1/2 cup chopped pecans if you want.

In a small bowl, melt 1 cup butter in the microwave. Slowly pour the butter over the top of the dry cake mix. See photos. It's OK if some of the cake mix is still dry.

Bake at 350 for about 60 minutes, or even up to 70 minutes. You will know it is done if you shake the pan and it doesn't wobble too much in the center. You want the top to be golden brown.

Let cool for a few minutes before digging in! I am usually a warm-dessert kind of girl, but I actually really love this cobbler chilled in the fridge. It's also great room temperature. Decide between cold and room temperature judging by what temperature you like to eat your pumpkin pie!

You can store this dump cake covered on the counter for about two days, and after that stick it in the fridge.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of warm salted caramel sauce!

Note: If you can't find pumpkin mix and all you have is 29-ounce can of 100% pumpkin puree, you can still make this no problem. Make these adjustments:
Increase sugar in the filling to 1 and 3/4 cup sugar (instead of 2/3 cup)
Increase pumpkin pie spice to 2 tablespoons, or to taste
And that's it! Everything else is the same.

This recipe is adapted from my dear friend Amelia's family recipe file. They call it "Pumpkin Dessert."