So, pumpkin dump cake is nothing out of the ordinary, right?
A big can of pumpkin pie filling, a yellow cake mix, 2 sticks of butter, and a bag of pecans.
Normally, that’s all it is, and oh my is it delicious!
This Gluten Free Pumpkin Dump Cake is a little different, though.
First of all, it’s gluten free.
Secondly, it’s made from scratch! No mixes or pre-made filling here. It’s just as good, if not better, than the traditional cake mix version!
Some good friends of ours are from Canada, and their sweet little baby just turned 1, so they had a first year birthday/Canadian Thanksgiving (one month earlier than American Thanksgiving) party at the beach the other day. I brought this as a side, and it was a huge hit with gluten tolerant and intolerant people alike. I used the Trader Joe’s brand of gluten free flour mix, but you could also use Cup4Cup.
All we’re doing with this flour is mixing it with brown sugar and pouring butter and pecans on top of it. The quality of the gluten free flour mix isn’t all that important. It’s not a flaky pie crust or light and airy crepe where texture is super important. You could probably use finely ground sand and it would taste good with the amount of butter and sugar we’re infusing it with. The one thing I would pay attention to is the liquid ratio. Don’t use just any gluten free flour, use any gluten free flour mix that is intended to be replaced cup for cup with white flour (it should say on the packaging what the exchange ratio is)
For instance, if I had used coconut flour in this volume, it would be way too dry, and probably would have sucked up all the butter, leaving dry pockets of flour, but the all purpose blend proved to be just right.
The pecans were so tasty, because as they baked in the sugar/flour mixture, they took on a candied flavor. A lot of people thought that I used candied pecans to start, but they were just plain.
Even some people who said that they didn’t like pumpkin enjoyed this recipe! Although, for the life of me, I can’t understand how one could not like pumpkin…
A little bit of the pumpkin filling creeped around the flour and bake on the top of the crust. Don’t worry if this happens, it will still be delicious, and just adds to the homemade charm.
I served this completely plain, mostly because it was served outside in the sun, and I didn’t want to worry about melting ice cream or warm whipping cream, but if you wanted to serve it up with either, it would be amazing!
Creme fraiche is one of my favorite ingredients for pumpkin pie filling. It adds the same creaminess as plain whipping cream, but has just a tiny little bit of tang, and it’s thicker, so it gives the filling a stability that is harder to achieve with whipping cream.
When I was little, my mom used to make the traditional version of this recipe, and I would get in trouble for standing with the fridge open, shamelessly eating pieces of the buttery cake mix topping.
Now as a grown up, I’ve moved onto better things, and I just eat way too much of the filling and the topping at the same time…
Thanks for reading!
- 2 cups Trader Joe's all purpose gluten free flour mix
- 1 ¼ cups brown sugar
- 2 tbl cornstarch
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
- 2 15 oz cans of pumpkin
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 16 oz crème fraiche
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder. Whisk until well mixed.
- In another large bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, egg, pumpkin pie spice, and creme fraiche and vanilla. Stir until well mixed with a stiff spatula or wooden spoon.
- Transfer pumpkin mixture to a 9X13 casserole dish and smooth with a spatula to make sure it is layered evenly.
- Cover pumpkin mixture with flour mixture, as evenly as possible.
- Slowly pour melted butter over flour mixture, trying to get it evenly spread across the top, and then top with pecans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 65-75 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and filling is no longer jiggly.
- Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Can be served hot or cold.
- Optional: Top with ice cream or whipped cream
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Love this! Can you use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Flour? Also, can you substitute Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream for crème fraiche? Just wondering.
Yes, I think you could! Let me know if you try it. You could probably use coconut milk or cream. Cream might have a little better consistency, especially if you actually use the solid cream from the top of the can. I think they would both have a good flavor, though!
Thanks! I’ll try it and let you know how it turned out.
Making this tonight for our home group:) thanks Lindsey!!!
Thanks for trying one of my recipes! I hope you like it.
Oh my- this is so delicious! Im not a fan of pumpkin pie but I LOVE this. A new fall favorite for sure:)
I’m so glad you liked it! And yes, it’s not just for pumpkin lovers!
So, if the gluten free flour is a cup-for-cup replacement for white flour, then I could just use regular white flour instead, right? If I’m not trying to be gluten free?
Exactly