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Blueberry lemon poor man's cobbler on a plate with blueberry filling spilling out

Poor Man's Cobbler (Easy 3-Ingredient Dump Cake)

Pie filling, a box of cake mix and a can of 7-Up. Soft, spongy cake over bubbling fruit, no mixer needed. Make it blueberry lemon, apple cinnamon or any combo you like.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cans fruit pie filling 21 oz each, blueberry or apple
  • 1 box cake mix 13 to 15 oz, lemon for blueberry or French vanilla for apple
  • 9-12 oz lemon-lime soda like 7-Up or Sprite (3/4 to 1 can)
  • ground cinnamon for dusting the apple version
  • vanilla ice cream or heavy cream for serving

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
  2. Spread the pie filling evenly across the bottom of the dish.
  3. Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the fruit. Don't stir it in.
  4. Pour the soda slowly over the cake mix. Gently stir just the top layer until most of the mix is wet, without digging into the fruit. Small clumps are fine. For the apple version, dust the top with cinnamon.
  5. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes. If the topping still looks like batter, cover again and bake another 15 to 20 minutes.
  6. Once the cake is mostly set (it'll look damp and extra soft), either keep it covered until done for the softest top, or uncover it for the last 20 to 25 minutes for a little golden color.
  7. Let it rest 10 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of heavy cream.

Notes

Campfire version: Use a Dutch oven. Nestle it into hot coals beside the fire (not in the flames), set a few coals on the lid and bake about an hour.
Dutch oven at home: A Dutch oven works in the home oven too. Same steps and temperature, with the lid on instead of foil.
Bigger batch: In a full-size steam pan, use 4 to 5 cans of filling, 2 boxes of cake mix and 2 cans of soda. Or make two 9x13s.
Set the dish on a sheet pan to catch any bubbling fruit.