Pumpkin Crunch Cake makes the perfect pumpkin fall dessert. An easy sheet cake with a crunchy, cake mix topping on top of a delicious pumpkin pie layer. It takes minutes to put together and is full of fall flavors that your family will love!
Pumpkin Crunch Cake with yellow cake mix
Using a yellow cake mix makes Pumpkin Crunch Cake incredibly easy to whip up. It will take longer for your oven to preheat than to get the cake ready to bake. Made with minimal effort and just a handful of simple ingredients, it’s easy to pull together at the last minute and completely stress-free.
While the yellow cake mix is my favorite, Pumpkin Crunch Cake can also be made with a spice flavored cake mix.
Pumpkin Crunch Cake is a classic fall dessert
Pumpkin Crunch Cake starts with a crunchy, nutty topping and an incredibly delicious moist cake layer that sits on top of a custard-like pumpkin pie base. All the layers kind of intermingle and swirl together so you can’t always see where one begins and one ends.
It turns into a magical dessert, full of flavor and texture. Top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream and chopped pecans to create the perfect pumpkin dessert that everyone will go crazy over.
The gentler you are getting the cake into the oven, the more separated and distinguishable the layers will be. By happy accident, I discovered if I wasn’t quite as gentle, the more comingled the layers become. You may see the pumpkin layer rising up on the edges. That’s ok! That’s my favorite way to eat it!
The perfect Thanksgiving dessert for a crowd
This Pumpkin Crunch Cake recipe is one that I’ve been preparing as a part of our Thanksgiving dessert lineup for several years. It’s the easiest way to make a fall-flavored dessert for a big crowd that can be made in minutes.
Not only is it super simple to make, it’s also incredibly delicious. Even family members who aren’t crazy about pumpkin pie love this cake.
Pumpkin Dump Cake
A dump cake is a cake where you literally dump a few ingredients into a baking pan, bake it in the oven, and it magically transforms into a delicious dessert.
A dump cake can be made with a variety of ingredients, but most recipes are made with a boxed cake mix and some sort of pie filling, plus butter.
This pumpkin dump cake uses pumpkin as the pie filling. While it uses one more bowl than a traditional dump cake so that you can mix up the pumpkin pie filling, it’s still super quick and super easy.
How to make Pumpkin Crunch Cake
To make Pumpkin Crunch Cake, mix up the pumpkin pie filling ingredients (evaporated milk, pumpkin, eggs, sugar, and spices) and pour them into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
Sprinkle the cake mix on top of the pumpkin pie filling, then sprinkle the pecans on top. Slowly and gently drizzle the melted butter all over the top.
Bake until it’s golden brown. The aromas in your kitchen will have you swooning.
How to serve and store Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Pumpkin Crunch Cake can be served warm, at room temperature, or refrigerated for a few hours.
Top with whipped cream and chopped pecans for a wonderful creamy, crunchy contrast. Or with a scoop of ice cream. Even caramel sauce if you like it really sweet. I personally find it sweet enough, so I use very lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.
Tips for success
The two most important tips that I can share so that your Pumpkin Crunch Cake comes out perfectly are:
Sprinkle the cake mix on gently in an even layer. You can use your hands to gently smooth it out. The flatter and more even the cake mix layer is, the better the butter can cover all of the cake. Just don’t press down on the cake layer or it might sink into the pumpkin layer.
Drizzle the butter on slowly, covering as much of the cake mix as you can. If you have big lumps of unbuttered cake mix, you might end up with dry, powdery lumps in the final cake.
Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Ingredients
- 1 can 15oz (425g) solid pack pumpkin
- 1 can 12oz (340g) evaporated milk
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar (5.25oz, 149g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted (8oz, 227g)
- 1 cup pecans chopped (4oz, 113g)
- 1 package yellow cake mix
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°Butter or spay with nonstick baking spray a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Whisk until well combined and smooth.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
- Sprinkle dry cake mix gently and evenly over the pumpkin pie filling. Use your hands if necessary to smooth and level.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with chopped pecans and evenly drizzle the melted butter over the entire cake.
- Bake in the middle of a preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. The bottom pumpkin layer with remain custard-like.
- If the top is becoming too brown, cover the cake with a piece of foil.
- Remove pan to a wire rack to cool. Serve slightly warm, at room temperature, or chill for a few hours before serving. The cake will cut into neater slices when it is cooler.
- Store cake in the refrigerator.
- If desired, top with whipped cream and chopped pecans before serving.
Enjoy, friends!
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Moist, almost fudgy crumb with a crunchy topping…that’s the BEST! That pumpkin cheesecake looks glorious too, Kelly.
It has a fabulous texture and the flavor is so delicious! Thanks so much, Angie!
Delicious! I love the texture of the cake! What a perfect fall dessert 🙂
Alexandra, I love the texture on this cake so much! And it seems to change a little each time I make it, depending on how much jiggling it gets on the way to the oven. Thanks so much!
Wow. I actually think I could make this! Me, with no baking skills. Fabulous. Thanks!
It’s super easy, Mimi! And it tastes great! Thanks so much!
WOW! That looks so good Kelly and such a perfect Fall recipe.
Our family definitely can’t get enough of it! I’ve made three already this season! Thanks so much, Taruna!
This sounds so easy and so delicious! You are right, this would be a great recipe to feed a crowd for Thanksgiving! My mouth is watering 🙂
It’s always a favorite on the holiday table! Thanks so much, Susan!
It really looks delicious. I liked very much the video clip, it will help pulling things together
So glad you found it helpful, Cookie Monster! Thanks so much!
I am totally loving the pecans added into this for some crunch!! This sounds so yummy. I am SO all about pumpkin everything right now. I wish I had a slice of this in front of me! XOXO
It’s so irresistible! Thanks so much, Kelly!
This dessert SO has my name on it! I love pumpkin anything and love simple, homey cakes like this! So perfect for fall!!!
Nancy, it’s so delicious and it’s super easy to make! Thanks so much!
I’ve never heard of a crunch cake. Wow, does it look good! Very moist and how can you go wrong with pecans and pumpkin flavors together. I can definitely see this as a great holiday meal ending.
MJ, it’s simply magical how the ingredients combine to make this delicious cake! Thanks so much!
Perfect one for busy days ! Thank you Kelly and enjoy your week 🙂
It’s so easy to make! Thanks so much, Davorka!
Kelly, you’re killing me here!! That custardy pumpkin pie base…the crunchy nutty topping…OH MY WORD! So delicious! And and I absolutely love how easy it sounds!! The perfect Fall dessert to bring to a dinner party! YUM! 🙂
It’s so delicious and it’s crazy easy to make! Thanks so much, Haylie!
Yes! my family’s favorite meal. Your version looks really GREAT!
Thanks so much, Mary!
Yes please (twice) and with that big dolop of whipped cream on top. What a delicious looking cake!!
We love it, Neil! And it’s so easy to make! Thanks so much!
Soooo good, not to mention the list of pumpkin recipes at the end of the blog post. I think I need to stock up on ALL of the pumpkin soon. PS – love the crunch of this cake!!!
It’s so good and so easy! Thanks so much, Katherine!
I can never resist a good pumpkin dessert Kelly, and this one looks particularly soft and fluffy. And I love the contrasting crunchy topping!
The flavors and textures in this cake are so irresistible! Thanks so much, Leanne!
This looks excellent — lotta flavor, great good looks. Sold! 🙂
It’s so easy and so good! Thanks so much, John!
I’m going to be thinking about this all day. The texture is amazing — the soft inside with the crunchy outside. Oh my, so good! Love that you can make it on a sheet pan, too. Easy and delicious! 🙂 ~Valentina
Don’t you love it when something so easy is so good?! Thanks so much, Valentina!
So don’t kill me, but I have a VERY similar recipe coming next week. Obviously great minds think (and crave pumpkin) alike! Your version looks fabulous!! A must try for sure!
There can never be to many pumpkin recipes, Chey! Look forward to seeing yours! Thanks so much, my friend!
Total yumm.
So irresistible! Thanks so much, Priya!
Oh man, that sounds like my kind of dessert right there, Kelly! I love all of the flavors you’ve got in there, and I know this would be a gigantic hit in our house. Perfect timing with the holidays coming up, too! Great pictures, too!
The flavors are delicious! I love the taste of the yellow cake mix that comes through. Must be one of those childhood flavors!
What a fun and easy recipe, Kelly! I love the crunch combined with the softness of the interior!
It’s a fun cake to make, David! And one that disappears too quickly. Thanks so much!
This looks so good! I’ve never tried a dump cake before. I think I’m in love! I love baking from scratch but sometimes there’s just no time.
It’s easy, but it’s so delicious! And the yellow cake mix adds its own special flavor. Thanks so much, Sarah!
yum this looks so pretty and sounds delicious too. pumpkin puree is not easy to buy here but it can probably be hunted up somewhere:) no pumpkin spice either i think…
Sherry, check out my post on making pumpkin puree. I actually did a side by side comparison of pumpkin and squash puree to find out which was the best, and found that squash makes a tastier puree than pumpkin. And in fact, canned pumpkin in the US is actually a squash similar to butternut squash.
For pumpkin pie spice, check out my recipe here, or just substitute cinnamon. Thanks so much, my friend!