Lemon Cream Cheese “Dump Cake” Is So Easy, Anyone Can Make It (Even Better Than Lemon Bars!)

My daughter is a lemon dessert fiend (we both will pick lemon over a chocolate dessert any day), so I jumped at the chance to test Patty Catalano’s six-ingredient lemon cream cheese dump cake. I’ve always liked the ease of dump cakes, which rely on cake mix, butter, and pie filling in the ingredient list, but have usually found them on the too-sweet side. This one changed my mind.

Thanks to a hefty amount of cream cheese and an egg that’s mixed together with some of the lemon pie filling, it bakes up into a cream cheese layer that balances the lemon pie filling nicely, and the cake mix doubles as a super-easy crust and crumbly topping. This lemon dump cake eats more like a cream cheese bar than cake, but no one I served it to complained — they were all too busy enjoying it. It’s easy enough to throw together if you need a quick weeknight dessert or a baking project with minimal prep and measuring that will keep the kids busy.

Get the recipe: Lemon Cream Cheese Dump Cake 

• Perfectly lemony, and not too sweet. Two blocks of cream cheese balance out the sweetness in the pie filling and cake mix, and the lemon pie filling adds some bright, fruity flavors.
• Enjoy it as a bar or with ice cream. You can scoop it warm out of the pan to eat with vanilla ice cream, or let it cool completely and cut into bars for a more hand-held treat.

1. Make the crust. Stir cake mix and melted butter together, then press some of it into a buttered square baking pan to form the crust.
2. Make the cream cheese layer. Beat cream cheese, some of the lemon pie filling, an egg, powdered sugar, and salt together, then spread over the crust.
3. Finish assembling. Top with the remaining lemon pie filling and crumble the rest of the cake mix over the top.
4. Bake and cool. Bake until browned around the edges, then let cool for at least 45 minutes before serving.

If you can’t find lemon pie filling, prepare 1 (3.4-ounce) box lemon instant pudding and pie filling with 2 cups whole milk as a substitute.

Get the recipe: Lemon Cream Cheese Dump Cake

This article originally published on The Kitchn. See it there: Lemon Cream Cheese “Dump Cake” Is So Easy, Anyone Can Make It (Even Better Than Lemon Bars!)