Papaya Dump Cake Recipe

This papaya dump cake is a baked papaya dessert in four layers: a buttery cake mix crust, a sweet cream cheese layer, fresh papaya tossed with cinnamon and sugar, and a brown sugar streusel on top. It needs about 20 minutes of hands-on work and 40 to 50 minutes at 350°F, and one 9×13 inch pan gives you 12 squares.

Ripe papaya is soft and very juicy, so the cream cheese goes down before the fruit. It seals the crust, and the papaya bakes into a jammy orange layer instead of soaking the base.

What Goes in Each Layer of This Papaya Cake

• Crust: one 15.25 ounce box of vanilla or yellow cake mix, minus 1 cup set aside, mixed with 1 stick (½ cup) melted unsalted butter
• Cream cheese layer: 8 ounces softened cream cheese, ⅓ cup sugar, 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Papaya layer: 3 cups diced fresh papaya tossed with ¼ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• Streusel: the reserved 1 cup cake mix, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ cup softened butter
• Pan and oven: a greased 9×13 inch baking dish, 350°F (175°C), 40 to 50 minutes, then at least 20 minutes to set

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Picking and Dicing a Ripe Papaya

Look for a papaya with skin that is mostly yellow or orange, that gives a little when you press it with your thumb, and that smells sweet near the stem. Green patches mean it needs a day or two on the counter. Deep bruises or a sour smell mean it has gone too far.

Halve it lengthwise, scoop out the black seeds with a spoon, and peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. Cut the flesh into pieces about ½ inch across. Smaller pieces collapse and release more juice. You need 3 cups, which is roughly 1½ pounds of whole fruit.

If the cubes are sitting in a puddle on the board, let them drain in a colander for 10 minutes. Then toss them with the sugar and cinnamon right before they go into the pan. Sugar pulls juice out of fruit, so a bowl of sugared papaya left to sit turns watery fast.

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Papaya Needs a Dance Partner

This cake started with my grandmother, who never followed a recipe in her life. I did not like papaya as a kid, and she told me its sweetness would shine if I gave it the right company. “Papaya needs a dance partner,” she would say, tossing it with cinnamon and sugar. She was right. Papaya on its own tastes mild and a little musky. Cinnamon warms it up, the tangy cream cheese sharpens it, and the crunchy streusel gives the soft fruit something to play against.

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Layering the Papaya Dump Cake

Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 inch baking dish well with butter or nonstick spray. Measure out 1 cup of the dry cake mix and set it aside for the streusel.

Stir the rest of the cake mix with the melted butter until it looks like damp crumbs. Spread it over the bottom of the dish and press it down gently with your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup. Pack it hard and the crust turns tough.

For the cream cheese layer, the cheese needs to be soft, so give it about an hour on the counter. Beat it with the ⅓ cup sugar until completely smooth, then add the egg and vanilla on low speed and stop as soon as they disappear. Beating in a lot of air makes the layer puff up in the oven and crack. Pour it over the crust and spread it right to the edges so the papaya juice cannot reach the base.

Scatter the cinnamon papaya evenly over the cream cheese, all the way into the corners. Rub the reserved cake mix, brown sugar, cinnamon and softened butter together with a fork or your fingertips until it forms clumps the size of peas, then sprinkle it over the fruit. Leave a few gaps so steam can escape from the fruit.

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Is the Cream Cheese Layer Set Yet?

Start checking at 40 minutes. The streusel should be golden and crisp, juice should be bubbling around the edges, and when you nudge the pan the center should give only a slight wobble rather than a ripple. If the top browns before the middle sets, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the pan for the last 10 minutes.

Let it cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting. The cream cheese keeps firming as it cools. Warm from the oven, it scoops softly like a cobbler. For neat squares like the ones in the photos, chill the cake for a couple of hours and cut with a knife wiped clean between slices.

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Why a Papaya Cake Turns Soggy, Pale or Cracked

• Soggy bottom: the papaya was very juicy, cut too small, or sugared too early, or the cream cheese did not cover the crust to the edges.
• Pale, sandy streusel: the butter was too cold or not rubbed in enough. It should clump when squeezed.
• Lumpy cream cheese layer: the cheese was still cold. Let it soften fully before beating.
• Cracked or puffy middle: the filling was beaten too long after the egg went in, or the cake baked well past the slight wobble.

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Serving It Warm or Cold, and Keeping Leftovers

Warm, it is lovely with a scoop of vanilla or coconut ice cream. Cold from the fridge, it slices like a fruit cheesecake bar, which is handy for a cookout or potluck. Fresh mango, kiwi or a few lime wedges on the side make it look bright on the table.

Because of the cream cheese and egg, refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours. Cover the pan tightly and it keeps for up to 4 days. Eat it cold, or warm a square in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

If you like this kind of fruit and cream cheese pan dessert, try the strawberry cheesecake dump cake or the lemon cream cheese dump cake. For more tropical fruit in a 9×13, there is a mango dump cake, a pineapple dump cake and a piña colada dump cake, and the whole dump cake collection is here.

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Papaya Baking Questions

Can I use overripe papaya?

A little soft is fine, but very ripe papaya is mostly juice. Drain it well in a colander and expect a softer, jammier fruit layer. Fruit that smells sour or fermented should not go in.

Can I use frozen papaya?

Yes. Thaw it in a colander, let it drain completely, and pat the pieces dry before tossing them with the sugar and cinnamon.

What other desserts can I make with papaya?

For something fresh and unbaked, try papaya lime boats. For a tropical layer cake, my mango cake is a close cousin in flavor.