Are you like me and have a pile of rhubarb in the freezer from when you harvested it last spring? Some years after already baking in the summer, I still have 25 cups that get stowed away in the freezer. I wanted something easy to make, so with some research, I made this super simple Rhubarb Dump Cake.
Our rhubarb patch does very well, and we have numerous stalks each year with a wonderful deep ruby-red color. This makes for such wonderful desserts. I have made a cake similar to this called a Blueberry Breakfast Cake, where you dump the fruit into a 9×13-inch baking dish and put a batter on top.
For the blueberry cake, you actually make up a batter and pour it over. This Rhubarb Dump Cake recipe is even easier than that where you add the fruit, sugar, dry cake mix, water, and melted butter. Try our Lemon Dump Cake or Strawberry Dump Cake too.
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3 Rhubarb Plants – Crimson Red
The end result is something like a crisp or cobbler. Very cool! I saw many recipes that asked for jello, but I thought, no way, that is going to be too sweet on top of the other ingredients. I didn’t need color either for my rhubarb, so I omitted that.
So I decided to go without the jello for my recipe, and I am so glad I did. Not too crazy sweet, as the tart rhubarb balances it very nicely. This is such an easy and delicious recipe. You have nothing to lose.
What Desserts Can You Make With Rhubarb?
We have loads of desserts using rhubarb on our site, plus some with a strawberry-rhubarb combination. I love that strawberry flavor with rhubarb, too. It is such an easy ingredient to work with!
Once you start to grow a plant or two, you have a nice harvest every year, and they take very little care. Maybe just the occasional water; they really just grow like a weed on their own.
Here are all of our wonderful rhubarb dessert recipes!
How Do You Make a Rhubarb Dump Cake?
We are talking as simple as it gets in making the rhubarb dump cake. To make a rhubarb dump cake, all I did was spray a 9×13″ pan with cooking spray. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
I then added in the frozen, in this case, rhubarb. I sprinkled the sugar over the rhubarb and then followed that with the dry cake mix.
You then sprinkle the cake mix, pour the water and then melted butter, trying to evenly disperse all the ingredients.
What? No mixing? Yup, that is correct. DO NOT MIX, but put it directly into a preheated oven.
You can add fresh fruit also to make this; it doesn’t have to be frozen. Serve this dessert warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
Rhubarb Dump Cake with Yellow Cake Mix
I love how the fruit bubbles up through the crust. This is so yummy; you won’t believe it. I liked the yellow cake mix for this recipe as opposed to a white cake mix to give it the warm contrast in colors.
Grab some of your frozen rhubarb and bring summer to life again in this easy dessert!!
Rhubarb Dump Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb chopped
- 1 scant cup white sugar
- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup butter melted
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9×13″ pan with cooking spray.
- Add the rhubarb and spread out evenly on the bottom of the pan.
- Sprinkle over the sugar, followed by the cake mix.
- Pour over the water and melted butter evenly. DO NOT MIX!
- Bake for 45 min. until bubbling and the rhubarb is tender and the top is slightly browned.
Comments & Reviews
Charlotte says
This cake was so easy and so delicious.
Veitch Lynda says
Blah,! Did not like it, not one bit!
Tara Noland says
I am sorry you didn’t like it.
Liz says
Can I add strawberry slices to the rhubarb in this recipe as well?
Tara Noland says
Yes, you sure can!
Renee says
Do you mix the water and melted butter together or pour over separately?
Tara Noland says
I pour them over separately. Enjoy!!
Shelly says
Could you add frozen strawberries with the rhubarb?
Tara Noland says
Yes, that would be very good!!
Lillie M. Rouse says
Do you store leftovers on counter in the fridge?
Tara Noland says
I almost always keep desserts that I make like this in the refrigerator, they stay fresher longer but you can keep this one on the counter top if you like.
Joan says
What about using a spice cake mix instead of a yellow cake. Think that would taste ok?
Tara Noland says
Sure you could give that a try, cinnamon etc. works well with fruit. Never had it with rhubarb though.
Elaine says
Rhubarb leaves are poison so do not try using them for anything!
Tara Noland says
Very true, I don’t even bring them into the house.
Karen Bower says
I sprinkled cinnamon red hots candy over my mix…Adds more flavor and color. Mmmmm….good❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️
Tara Noland says
Wow, that is a cool twist!!
Ann says
I like the tartness of the rhubarb, so I don’t add sugar, the cake mix is enough sweetness for me. And I don’t use water, just a stick of melted butter over the top.
Tara Noland says
I am so glad you are making it your own, enjoy!!
Betty says
I too do not use water but do add cinnamon in the sugar.
Betty says
Also use 1 & 1/2 sticks of butter cut into Pattie’s instead of melted butter to pit on top of cake mix.
Harriet says
We tried this and it was delicious—thank you for this recipe! We had 4 cups of Rhubarb but had some strawberries so added those too. Came out fine! I had another dump cake recipe that called for heavy cream, which I did not have. Don’t think it could be better than this one!
Tara Noland says
Thank you so much Harriet for coming over and telling us. So glad you enjoyed the recipe!!
Lisa B says
This is great, we’re having it tonight! Try this variation: instead of adding the sugar and water, pour a can of lemon-lime soda over the rhubarb topped with dry cake mix. Don’t skip the butter! My rhubarb is mostly green, not much red (kind of unappetizing) so a handful of strawberries helps with that.
Tara Noland says
Wow would have never thought of using soda but I can see that working!!
Teri says
I use 7-Up for all my dump cakes! It just adds that little something extra. 😄
Joa n says
Cake mix 18oz or the new 15…
Tara Noland says
I would say either would work just fine, don’t you love how they try to save money by giving you less. Seems like that for everything!
Stephanie says
Do I need to thaw the frozen rhubarb?
Tara Noland says
I don’t but it will take a bit longer to bake.
Kim says
Cake flavor overwhelms the rhubarb and it just tastes like- way too sweet, soggy, cake!! Yuck
Kathy says
Making for the second time. This is so good and super simple.
Tara Noland says
So glad you are enjoying it!!
Pam says
If you are using fresh rhubarb, do you need to do anything different?
Tara Noland says
No, fresh or frozen work well.
Crystal says
Sooo easy and yummy! A hit with my family. We love rhubarb. Cannot wait to try this recipe with some other fruits as suggested by some others here.
Thanks for sharing this quick family recipe.
Tara Noland says
So glad you enjoyed it. This has become a very popular recipe and trying it with other fruit would be a hit too.
Marlene Larsen says
This was a very easy and delicious rubarb dump cake recipe. The sweetness and tart ratio is perfect. Will definitely make this again.
Tara Noland says
So glad you liked it, thanks for coming to tell us too!!
Ms says
Do you know if you was runny? Cooked for an hour.
Tara Noland says
The cake shouldn’t be runny, hopefully you to the right temperature on the oven. Just bake it longer.
Kim Hammond says
Sounds wonderful. Do you know if this can be done in a crockpot/slow cooker?
Thank you in advance!
Tara Noland says
I have never tried that so sorry I have no idea.