Preheat the oven to 175 C / 350 F and grease a 20×22 baking pan with butter.
Pour the cherry pie filling cans into the prepared baking pan, stir in vanilla extract (optional). Now with a spatula, spread the filling evenly into the pan.
2 cans cherry pie filling, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkle the cake mix evenly on top and pour the melted butter over.
425 g chocolate cake mix
Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the top is firm.
½ cup butter
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes, then serve.
Notes
Canned cherries and canned cherry pie filling are two different things. Make sure you pick up the pie filling, which is the only thing that will be able to hold up an entire layer of the cake.
If you want to have an easier time cleaning up, use a disposable foil pan. Or you can line the baking pan with aluminum foil and begin the recipe with that. Once done, you can just throw out the foil paper, and the baking pan will be much easier to clean.
Variations
Suppose you can’t get your hands on a chocolate cake mix, or you just don’t like it as much. In this case, you can switch it out for a vanilla or red velvet cake; both of which taste great with cherries.
For an extra touch of texture and flavor, you can add your choice of chocolate chips to the cake mix.
If you’d like sprinkle some powdered sugar on top for some added oomph.
Store: This Dump cake can be stored at room temperature for about 2 days. However, in the fridge, it will last right from about 5 days to a week in total. Just make sure to always keep it in an air-tight container.Freeze: This cake can be frozen for up to 3 months, though it isn’t an option we’d recommend. Since the cake mix, cherry pie filling, and butter are all readily available from the store, you can whip it up whenever you’d like to serve it. Though if you do plan on freezing it, do so in an airtight container.