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Sweet Potato Dump Cake

A spiced sweet potato custard baked under a golden, buttery cake-mix crust with pecans. Fifteen minutes of work, one 9x13 pan, feeds twelve.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword sweet potato dump cake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

For the Sweet Potato Filling

  • 3 cups mashed sweet potato fresh roasted, or two 15-oz cans drained and mashed
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Topping

  • 1 box yellow or spice cake mix (15.25 oz) dry, straight from the box
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter cold, thinly sliced into pats
  • ¾ cup chopped pecans optional

Instructions

Make the Filling

  • Heat the oven to 350F and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.
  • Whisk the mashed sweet potato, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and vanilla until smooth and pourable.
  • Pour the filling into the dish and spread it level with a spatula.

Build the Topping

  • Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the entire surface, corner to corner, breaking up any clumps with your fingers. Do not stir it in and do not press it down.
  • Lay the thin butter pats across the top in an even grid, roughly an inch apart, so no dry patches are left uncovered.
  • Scatter the chopped pecans over the top.

Bake and Rest

  • Bake uncovered 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is deep golden and the filling is bubbling around the edges. If the pecans darken early, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
  • Let the pan rest 20 to 30 minutes before serving so the custard base can set.

Notes

  • The one rule: never stir the dry cake mix into the filling. It has to stay a separate layer to bake into a crisp top.
  • Pats, not poured butter: melted butter runs to the low spots and leaves dry, powdery patches behind.
  • Doneness cue: deep golden on top and bubbling at the edges, not just the timer.
  • Canned shortcut: two drained 15-oz cans of sweet potatoes work; if packed in syrup, rinse them and cut the brown sugar to ½ cup.
  • Condensed milk swap: use one 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk and reduce the brown sugar to ¼ cup.
  • Storage: covered in the fridge up to 5 days; reheat at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes to re-crisp the top.