This Lemon Dump Cake with Cream Cheese is a citrusy mixture of lemon curd, cream cheese mixture, and white cake mix. It’s as easy as layering your ingredients into a dish to bake and then serving it up with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
While I love this zesty-flavored dump cake using easy lemon curd, it’s also a versatile recipe that can easily be used as a foundation for whatever modifications you want. For instance, you can use a vanilla cake mix or yellow cake mix and a fruity pie filling to make this Strawberry Cheesecake Dump Cake or Blackberry Dump Cake. Add some chunks of pineapple to the mix, and suddenly you have Lemon Pineapple Dump Cake!
With only 15 minutes needed to prepare this dessert, it’s a great option for a no-fuss dessert that will feed a crowd! If you love lemon desserts, try Lemon Curd Cake, Lemon Cream Cheese Pie, Lemon Cheesecake, Lemon Cream Cheese Cookie Bars, and Cream Cheese Filled Blueberry Lemon Bread.
Lemon and Peach are some of our favorite Spring and Summer desserts to make. Try our Peach Cobbler Cheesecake with some fresh lemonade on a nice summer afternoon!
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Why You’ll Love Lemon Dump Cake with Cream Cheese
- This lemon dump cake with cream cheese is an easy layered dessert calling for budget-friendly and pantry-staple ingredients.
- It’s a zesty dessert that isn’t overly rich in flavor but still decadent, thanks to the sweetened cream cheese mixture.
- Simple modifications can be made to this dump cake recipe for an entirely different fruity dessert!
🍋 Ingredients:
- Lemon curd –I’ve used two jars of lemon curd (each 12 oz), which was enough for this dump cake. You could use lemon pie filling instead. My favorite, though, is to use a double recipe of homemade lemon curd.
- Cream cheese – Allow the cream cheese to soften at room temperature so it can mix smoothly with the egg and sugar.
- Egg – At room temperature.
- Sugar – I’ve used granulated white sugar. I don’t recommend using brown sugar.
- Cake mix – I’ve used a package of white cake mix, but you could use lemon cake mix, vanilla, or yellow cake mix.
- Butter – Salted butter helps to balance the flavors in this dump cake, but you could use unsalted instead. Make sure the butter is cold so it is easier to cut into thin slices.
Variations
- Instead of making lemon dump cake, make a different fruit dump cake using a fruity pie filling instead of lemon curd. This could be Raspberry filling (affil), homemade Strawberry Rhubarb pie filling, or Cherry …the options are endless! You could also add chunks of fresh fruit to make varieties of dump cake, such as softened sliced apples for apple dump cake or peaches for peach dump cake.
- Everyone knows how well blueberries and lemons go together! Use blueberry pie filling instead of lemon curd and lemon cake mix instead of white cake mix for a lemon blueberry dump cake.
- Add lemon zest to the white cake mix for an intense lemon flavor.
- Garnish this lemon cream cheese dump cake with fresh whole blueberries.
- Use lemon, vanilla, or yellow cake mix instead of white.
- Add an extra layer to this lemon dump cake recipe by spreading some Cool Whip over the top.
PRO TIP: If you want to ensure a more even distribution of butter over the top of your dump cake, consider melting the butter and drizzling that over the dry cake mix instead of adding cold slices of butter.
How to Make Lemon Dump Cake (with Cream Cheese)
PREP: Preheat the oven and spread the lemon curd on the bottom of a baking pan. Combine the cream cheese, egg, and granulated sugar until smooth. Add dollops of the cream cheese mixture to the lemon curd layer. Evenly sprinkle the white cake mix over the first two layers. Add thin slices of butter to the dry cake mix layer, covering it.
BAKE AND SERVE: Bake the assembled lemon dump cake for 35-40 minutes until the top of the dessert is golden brown and bubbling from the edges. Let the dump cake rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Recipe Tips for Lemon Dump Cake with Cream Cheese
- Make sure your butter is cold, making it much easier to get the slices very thin. When the dump cake cooks, the butter melts and blends with the dry cake mix, but it won’t spread, so if parts of the cake mix are left uncovered, they may come out of the oven still dry and powdery. If this happens, you can add a layer of frosting over the crust of your cake, but I suggest slicing the butter thin so that you can get ample coverage.
- If it’s easier for you, consider melting your butter and drizzling it over the top of the cake mix before baking.
- You can make homemade lemon curd instead of buying it.
- There is a possibility of having your lemon dump cake stored at room temperature for a couple of days, but then you’ll need to ensure that it sits in an environment that is cool and not exposed to humidity. If I have any leftovers, I just store them in the refrigerator.
Fun Fact
Did you know that lemon trees can produce as much as 600 lbs of lemons in a year? That’s a lot of lemon curd!
Recipe FAQs
Dump cake is exactly what it sounds like…where all of the ingredients get dumped into a 9”x13” baking dish, making it extremely easy and quick to whip up!
Like a cobbler, it follows the simple layering of a fruit filling into the bottom of the baking dish, then dumping cake mix on top before being baked.
While a cobbler and a dump cake seem indistinguishable, it’s important to note that a cobbler’s fruit filling base is traditionally topped with a crumbed biscuit topping, while dump cakes make use of cake mixes placed on top of the pie filling.
A classic cobbler will always have a fruit-based bottom layer, while that’s not necessarily the case with dump cakes. If you do a recipe search for dump cakes, you’ll see a variety, including those that are more cookie and cake inspired, using a cookie base, cream cheese filling, and a whipped topping such as an oreo cookie dump cake.
Store your lemon dump cake in the fridge in an airtight container or with a tight plastic wrap covering or lid for up to 5-7 days.
This dump cake can also be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month, making it a convenient make-ahead dessert. When ready to enjoy, remove it from the freezer to thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
This lemon dump cake can either be served cold or warm – so it’s completely up to you whether you reheat it after it has been stored.
Yes, you can if you want to, but it’s optional. A dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream would be delicious alongside a serving of this dump cake.
Lemon Treats You’ll Love!
Lemon Dump Cake (with Cream Cheese)
Ingredients
- 2 – 12 oz. jars of lemon curd or Homemade Lemon Curd
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 15.25 oz. white or lemon cake mix yellow cake mix also works
- ½ cup salted butter cold
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spread the lemon curd in the bottom of a 9”x13” baking dish.
- Beat together cream cheese, egg, and granulated sugar until mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Spoon dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the lemon curd in the baking dish.
- Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the lemon and cream cheese mixtures to cover the layers underneath and form a flat surface.
- Slice very thin pats of butter and spread over the entire top of the dry cake mix. Cover as much of the cake mix as possible.
- Bake about 30-35 minutes until the topping is browned.
- Serve warm or room temperature.
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Comments & Reviews
Dory says
This recipe is the epitome of Bomb Diggity. I’m giving it an extra star because it’s so easy to make. Everybody that has tasted it is pretty much ready to sell their clothes because they’re going to heaven. Just try it, you will not be disappointed.
Glenna Rufo says
made the Lemond cream cheese cake and everyone loved it. Will definitely make again. I had lemon pie filling. next time I’ll use the curd just to see the difference.
Lori Perry says
I’m making this today! Do I need to grease the pan? Can i use melted butter or leave cold, does it make a difference?
Stefanie says
I never grease the pan for dump cakes, Lori! I’ve heard others use melted butter. I have the best luck if I grate the butter over everything and then melt a little extra toward the end of baking and drizzle it over any dry spots. I hope yours turned out great!
Janie says
I’m dying to make this with homemade lemon curd. Do you know how many cups of curd I’d need?
Thank you!
Stefanie says
It is the BEST with homemade lemon curd. You need 3 cups. This is my recipe for homemade lemon curd and it makes 1.5 cups, so I double it for this dump cake. Happy baking! https://thegirlinspired.com/lemon-curd/
Nikki says
Sounds amazing! I’m wondering if I could incorporate a cream cheese layer into the pumpkin dump cake too?