pumpkin cake with white frosting chocolate drizzle and orange and yellow sprinkles on top.

At Ajpal, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Rich Easy Pumpkin Dump Cake

I don’t often have time to make a cake for my kids – who are always clamoring for sweet treats.

Poor things are spoiled in so many ways – but not often in the baked goods department – because I just don’t ever think of making fussy cakes when it’s not a special occasion.

But who wants to wait for something more special than just celebrating all things pumpkin?

This super easy pumpkin dump cake is topped with cool whip and chocolate caramel sauce for an indulgent and amazing cake in no time – thanks to the simple addition of pumpkin puree and yellow cake mix!

How to Add Pumpkin to Cake Mix

This easy pumpkin dump cake owes its speed and simplicity to the addition of a boxed cake mix!

This will change the ingredients and amounts, however, because each cake mix is different – but that is ok, with a couple easy tips and tricks.

Don’t skip the ingredients on the box – especially eggs! The eggs will be crucial if you want your cupcakes to lift and have lovely, airy bubbles!

FOR BEST RESULTS ADDING PUMPKIN TO BOXED CAKE MIX:

Only add half the oil to begin with.

Some cake mixes suck up more moisture than others – add 1/2 the oil the cake mix calls for (if it calls for oil), until after you add the pumpkin. If it is very thick, add the rest of the oil.

You can always add the full amount of oil after it is mixed – but once you add it, you can’t take it away, so I try to mix in the pumpkin before adding all the oil to see how it all incorporates since boxed mixes can vary on how thick they are and how they respond to moisture!

Hold off on water from the cake’s ingredients – depending on the cake mix, you might not need extra water after adding pumpkin to the cake mix.

Hold off on adding water until the end to see if you need to loosen the batter a bit.