Red Velvet Dump Cake Recipe

This red velvet dump cake is a box of red velvet cake mix stirred with instant vanilla pudding, eggs, milk and oil, layered in a 9×13 pan with white chocolate chips and a sweet cream cheese filling, then baked at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes. It takes about 10 minutes to put together and serves 12.

The pudding mix is the quiet trick. It keeps the crumb soft and moist for days, and the cream cheese bakes into pale ribbons through the middle, so no frosting is needed. I first threw a version of it together on a busy Friday with guests due in an hour, and it has stayed in my rotation since.

Pan, Oven Temperature, and Bake Time

• Pan: 9×13 inch baking dish, greased
• Oven: 350°F (175°C)
• Bake: 45 to 50 minutes; start checking at 45
• Prep: about 10 minutes, one large bowl and one small one
• Serves: 12 squares, about 350 calories each
• Rest: about 10 minutes before serving warm

Is It Really a Dump Cake?

Not in the strictest sense. A classic dump cake, like a cherry dump cake, is dry cake mix poured over fruit with butter on top and never stirred. This one is a dump cake in spirit: everything goes from the box into one bowl, gets a quick stir, and is layered straight into the pan. No mixer for the batter, no layers to stack, no frosting.

Stirring the batter is what gives it a real cake texture, soft and slightly fudgy, rather than the crumbly top of a dry dump cake. If you are after the fruit and butter kind, the cherry version further down gets you closer.

What the Pudding, Cream Cheese, and White Chocolate Each Do

• Red velvet cake mix: one standard box gives the color, the mild cocoa flavor, and the structure. Any brand works.
• Instant vanilla pudding mix (3.4 oz): the starch and sugar hold on to moisture, so the cake stays tender and a little dense. Use instant, not cook and serve.
• 3 large eggs, 1 cup milk, ½ cup vegetable oil: these replace whatever the box asks for. Oil keeps the cake soft even straight from the fridge.
• 8 oz cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla: the cheesecake layer. Full fat cream cheese bakes up creamy rather than watery.
• 1 cup white chocolate chips: sweet pockets in the middle and, if you like, a few more on top for serving.
• ½ cup crushed walnuts (optional): a little crunch against the soft crumb. Pecans work the same way, or leave them out.

Layering the Batter, Chips, and Cream Cheese

Heat the oven to 350°F and grease the 9×13 dish. In a large bowl, stir the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, milk and oil until smooth with no dry streaks. Pour half of it into the dish and spread it to the corners.

Scatter the white chocolate chips and the walnuts, if using, over that first layer.

For the cream cheese layer, the cheese needs to be soft enough that a finger dents it easily. Cold cream cheese stays in little lumps no matter how long you beat it. Beat it with the powdered sugar first, then the vanilla, until it is smooth and spreadable. Drop it in about 12 spoonfuls over the chips rather than spreading it, so it does not drag the batter around.

Now the part that decides how the slices look. Pour the remaining batter slowly, in ribbons, from close to the pan, then nudge it gently from the edges toward the middle. Pour it all in one spot and the weight pushes the cream cheese to the bottom. A few pale patches peeking through the top are fine. They bake golden.

How to Tell It Is Baked Through

The recipe card says to bake until a toothpick comes out clean, and that is right, but where you test matters. A toothpick that goes through the cream cheese or a melted chip always comes out wet. Test a spot of plain red cake about halfway between the edge and the center. Crumbs are fine. Wet batter is not.

Other signs it is ready: the edges pull away slightly from the dish, the top springs back when pressed lightly, and the center no longer wobbles when you nudge the pan. Start checking at 45 minutes, since ovens vary and glass dishes bake a little faster than metal.

Sunken Middle, Lumpy Filling, or Dry Edges

• Middle sinks as it cools: it came out a few minutes early. A small dip over the cream cheese is normal; a wet, gummy band of cake is not, so test plain cake next time.
• Lumps or white spots in the cheese layer: the cream cheese was too cold. Let it sit out until soft, and beat it with the sugar before anything else goes in.
• Cream cheese all at the bottom: the top batter went in too fast in one place. Pour in ribbons and spread gently.
• Dry, dark edges: the oven runs hot or the cake stayed in past 50 minutes. An oven thermometer tells you which.

Making It a Red Velvet Cherry Dump Cake

Red velvet and cherry are a natural pair. For a cherry version, spoon cherry pie filling over the cream cheese layer before the top batter goes on, either from a can or my homemade cherry pie filling. Keep it to spoonfuls rather than a full layer so the top batter still has cake to bake into.

The fruit adds moisture, so rely on the toothpick in plain cake and give it the full bake time. If you like chocolate and cherry together, the chocolate cherry dump cake is the same idea with a darker crumb.

Warm With Ice Cream or Chilled in Squares

Served after its 10 minute rest, the cake is soft and spoonable, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream melts into the warm crumb. Scatter a few extra white chocolate chips on top while it is still warm and they soften just enough.

For neat squares, let it cool completely and chill it for an hour or two. The cream cheese firms up and the cuts come out clean, which is what you want for a potluck or a party tray.

Fresh berries cut through the sweetness, and the red and white look right on a Valentine’s Day or Christmas table. I have served it at birthday parties and Valentine’s dinners at home. For a scratch-baked layer cake instead, there is my red velvet cake, and red velvet cheesecake brownies give you the same red and cream cheese swirl in bar form.

Keeping Leftovers

Because of the cream cheese layer, leftovers belong in the fridge once the cake has cooled. Cover the dish or move the squares to an airtight container and they keep for up to 5 days. To freeze, wrap single portions well and freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw overnight in the fridge.

Cold squares are good as they are. Or let one sit out for about 30 minutes. To serve it warm again, microwave a single slice for 15 to 20 seconds. Warming the whole pan dries out the edges.

Cake Mix, Cream Cheese, and Make-Ahead Questions

Can I make red velvet dump cake a day ahead?

Yes. Bake it, cool it, cover it and refrigerate it overnight. Serve it chilled in squares or warm single slices in the microwave.

Do I make the cake mix as the box says?

No. Ignore the box directions and use the eggs, milk and oil from this recipe, stirred together with the dry mix and the pudding mix.

Does red velvet dump cake need frosting?

No. The cream cheese layer baked inside does the job of a cream cheese frosting.

Can I leave out the walnuts or the white chocolate?

The walnuts are optional and can be skipped or swapped for pecans. Semisweet chips can stand in for white chocolate, with a darker, less sweet result.

More bakes from the same pan: strawberry cheesecake dump cake, lemon cream cheese dump cake, or the whole list of easy dump cake recipes.

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