Perfect for making the most out of berry season, this 5 ingredient blueberry skillet dump cake is the easy dessert recipe you’ve been waiting to enjoy!
Have you been going to the farmers market on weekends? I have been trying to take weekends completely off of work and blog work (like I told you in this slow cooker Greek chicken and vegetables post) and have been stopping by the farmers market as much as I can, and is it just me, or has this year seen an abundance of berries? I feel like I’ve seen more this year than ever before, and even though I had berries galore, I couldn’t walk past the fresh blueberries and not get them.
But farm fresh blueberries are a little different than berries bought at the grocery store, I feel like one has to use them the SAME DAY they are picked up from the farmers market, or else they kind of go bad (it may just be me lol). I really had no intention of eating a pint of blueberries by my lonesome, and was feeling a little lazy on the weekend, so I decided to make a dump cake, where essentially all you’re doing is ‘dumping’ the ingredients into a bowl, stirring, and then dumping it into a skillet and baking. With this recipe, you’re making a quick cake batter in a bowl and then pouring it into the skillet, and pouring the blueberries on top.
Pouring sounds a lot more graceful than dumping, does’t it? So you can think of this cake as a one bowl cake, a skillet cake, or just an all around amazing blueberry cake, and since this cake is made with only 5 ingredients and it’s Friday – it’s this week’s Five Ingredient Friday recipe!
Now, I have to share a funny story with you that makes me giggle every time I think of it: I was once doing a radio interview about my cookbook and they invited the live audience to call in. This very sweet elderly man called in and said that he had purchased his first cookbook and I got all excited thinking mine was his first cookbook he had purchased, but then he went on to say that it was a ‘dump’ cookbook but that is was a lot more complicated than he thought it was going to be, and what did I have to say about that? Whomp whomp. I of course was nice and responded with how I was sorry he wasn’t enjoying that cookbook, but that I could assure him that mine had only 5 ingredient recipes and he might like it.
The funny part was, when he was describing the other cookbook, (I have no idea what the title of the cookbook or who the author was)- the one I had no idea about- he kept emphasizing the word ‘dump’ “you’re supposed to just DUMP all the ingredients in” “one makes dishes by “DUMPING” and so on. It took all I had to contain my laughter. Ever since, every time I’m making something that involves a pouring step, I think that I’m dumping ingredients in and laugh. Maybe I’m the only one that thinks it was funny?
This cake is probably one of the most tried and true old-timey recipes I know and have known for years. For the cake batter all you do is mix together melted butter, sugar, flour and milk and then add fruit and bake. That’s it! Viola! 5 ingredients is all you need to create this simple, yet delicious summery blueberry skillet dump cake. You could substitute the butter for margarine and milk for almond milk, or the blueberries for other berries. This cake is super customizable and delicious (you could even top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!)
Other recipes you might enjoy:
- Blueberry Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
- 5 Ingredient Blueberry Pie With Graham Cracker Crust
- Orange Cranberry Cake Recipe

5 Ingredient Blueberry Skillet Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick, or you could use margarine
- 1 cup flour all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk I use skim, you could use almond milk or other dairy free milk in place of regular milk
- 1 pint blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375, spray a skillet with cooking spray or grease it with butter and set aside.
- In a bowl melt the butter (30 seconds in the microwave does the trick for me) then pour in the flour, sugar and milk and whisk to combine, until no big clumps remain. Pour into the prepared skillet.
- Sprinkle the blueberries evenly around the top of the batter.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until edges start to turn slightly brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Serve warm or cold.
Notes
Nutrition
Christine says
Can you be more specific on the pan you should use use in the oven ??? Not all pans can go in oven.. I’m making this now .. anrd read that non stick pans should not be be put in oven ?? After I already have ..can be toxic it said idk but it’s looking good
Sweetphi says
Hi sorry – just seeing this now. Hopefully it all turned out good! This should be made in an oven-safe skillet (iron skillets)
Donna Tevald says
Can you reduce the sugar?
Sweetphi says
Yes you certainly could, I haven’t tested it with less sugar but I think it would work.
KonaGirl says
Is the flour sifted prior to measuring the 1 cup?
BTW. I think your story is funny. Now I’ll be thinking the same thing every time I’m “dumping” ingredients into a bowl.
Sweetphi says
I don’t sift the flour, but you certainly could! And I’m so happy you liked the story lol!!
KonaGirl says
I just pulled it out of the oven and it’s looking good. Can hardly wait for it to cool. I kept thinking while making it and while it was baking, “No eggs??”. LOL.
I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve devoured a piece with some vanilla ice cream. 😊
KonaGirl says
Devoured! I am so amazed at how good this is, especially since so quick and easy to make. I love the crunchiness of the crust, yet the soft cake texture under all those delicious fresh blueberries.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your feedback, I’m so happy to hear how much you loved this recipe!
Gabe says
Could I use maple syrup instead of sugar?
Sweetphi says
I don’t think that would work in this particular recipe – the mix would be too liquidy…maybe you could try it and add more flour? Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Heather says
Can you reduce the amount of sugar?
Sweetphi says
Definitely!
Chris Perlini says
5 ingredient dump cake. Can you make this in a 9 inch cake pan?
Sweetphi says
Sure! I’ve never tried it but it should work, I’d love to know how it turns out for you
Christine Perlini says
I made it in a 10 inch cake pan. Came out awesome. Also added mc cormicks pure lemon extract to the batter I used almost a teaspoon. Had the perfect hint of lemon to the cake.
Janice Graham says
I made this tonight in a cake pan and it was so delicious! I substituted a gluten free all purpose flour blend and the results were tasty. My non celiac family members couldn’t tell it was gluten free and I got to enjoy an amazing dessert! Thank you for the recipe!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for coming back and leaving this feedback. I’m so glad to hear how much you and your family enjoyed this cake 🙂
Sweetphi says
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the cake – love the modification you made, I bet the hint of lemon would work so good!
Emily says
Would halving or reducing the size of this recipe work? Would the baking time be affected as well if I changed the size? Thanks!
Sweetphi says
Not quite sure what you mean here…if you’re reducing the recipe by, say, 1/2 or something then yes the cooking time would be different…haven’t tested it for other sizes, but I’d say a safe bet would be to check the bake time at 1/2 of the normal time.
Airell Mazer says
Well, I tried. But this was a flop and not because of your recipe but because of my tweaks. I wanted to make this more keto friendly so I substituted 1:1 Almond Flour, added an egg for binder (as is usual with Keto using Almond Flour) and substituted the 1c. of sugar with 1/2c. of Erythritol, and it was a sloppy mess that didnt even resemble a cake…its more like a topping for cake at this point. I did leave it in the iron skillet & coooed it on the stove from the bottom to try & cook off some of the slop but it’s still a mess. Here’s why I dont Keto-exchange many recipes!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for sharing Airell, sorry it didn’t work as a keto-exchange recipe
Deidre says
Can you substitute apples?
Sweetphi says
Oh that might work, I’ve never tried but I think it could work. I’d love to know how it turns out for you!
Jeanne Abernethy says
How much lemon juice or zest from lemon skin do you suggest for giving it a lemon blue berry flavor? I love that combination.
Sweetphi says
I’m a sucker for a really strong lemon flavor, so I would suggest 1 tablespoon 🙂
Lauren Hall says
I’m so glad i found this! it was very easy, and a great use of blueberries! i also added some strawberries, due to needing to use them and my dad ate some of the blueberries earlier and actually, they worked well too. my only issue was that the crust was very under cooked. the sides were pretty fine but the rest was under cooked and kinda chewy. i followed instructions but i’m thinking I just should have let it cook more than it did. anyone else have this issue? or any advice for me about it?
very good otherwise! we ate it all
Sweetphi says
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Sometimes due to the atmosphere and who knows what lol sometimes it needs a few extra minutes cooking. If it’s jiggly in the middle, i’d say to leave it in the oven for a few extra 🙂
Lauren Hall says
yeah, it was ok on the very outside of the crust but the center was not cooked well. I thought that might be the problem and next time I will try cooking it longer 🙂 thanks for the reply!
Linda says
I had the sand issue. Lengthened then cook time and it remained flat and sticky. I’m thinking there’s an ingredient missing (leavening)?
Sweetphi says
There is no leavening in this recipe, it’s not a typical ‘fluffy’ cake type recipe, but you could definitely add some baking powder if you’re used to those types of cakes.
Ellie Ball says
Quick, easy and delicious. I have made it several times and also have had the problem of undercooked crust and middle. I cooked it an extra 10 minutes but still a bit gooey yet tasty.
Jennifer Taylor says
This recipe brings joy to my heart! My mother passed on a very similar recipe to me years ago. She would make it every summer changing up the fruit: raspberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches. Sometimes she would use one fruit, other times it would be a blend. After a summer dinner of harvest fruits and veg, she’d serve this in a small dish with a splash of whole milk or half & half. I used to make this, too, until I accidentally recycled the recipe card. My mother now has advanced Alzheimer’s and my dad hasn’t been able to find the recipe. So…
Thank you for returning such fond memories to me!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment, how heartwarming to hear that feedback, I’m so glad you came across this recipe.
Opal says
If you do not own a skillet can you use a cake pan ? Or pie pan maybe ?
Sweetphi says
Both would work, I would just check the cake 10 minutes earlier
Opal says
Thank you !! Have a great day
Elaine says
I made this recipe early this morning to serve for breakfast. I’m afraid mine was an absolute failure! It did not look like yours at all, especially it had no “cakey” look about it. I baked mine in a 10″ cast iron skillet according to your directions. When I attempted to slice it (it did kind of slice) and put it on the plates, there was no cakiness about it. It was more like blueberries in a gooey sauce with a leathery crust on the bottom. The blueberries and goo kind of tasted good, because how could baked fresh blueberries with a ton of sugar, butter, milk and flour not taste good? However, I needed to give my husband and I knives to cut through the leathery crust on the bottom. I’m not so sure I liked that crust. I don’t think my husband did, either. My plan is to heat it up and scoop the blueberry buttery goo (without the leathery crust) and put it on some ice cream with whipped cream.
I confess that I was very curious how one could make a “cake” without eggs and/or baking powder/soda. I was obviously not successful. What is your secret? I think that the person who asked if she could use self-rising flour may have had better results than me. I found other “dump cakes” online that mostly used boxed cake mixes, which would have definitely had some kind of leavening agents.
Sweetphi says
Hi there Elaine,
So sorry to hear how yours turned out. I’ve made this cake a bunch of times and have never had the issues you had, also I’ve never heard that feedback in any of the comments, so I’d love to help try and figure out what went wrong. Did you use a heavy cast iron skillet? It sounds like perhaps your cake cooked at too high a temperature, too quickly, in too thin a pan, resulting in a crust and gooey center. The center should definitely not have been gooey as you describe it. The only other thing I can think of is that perhaps too much milk was added?
If you do give it another try, you could definitely use a smaller skillet to make it thicker and some self rising flour or ap flour with baking power/soda.
Glad it tasted good at least, and so sorry again it didn’t turn out like it should have.
Kathy Burrows says
Will it be ok to use self rising flour? Thanks!
Sweetphi says
Oh yes, that would work!
Kathy Burrows says
Thank you! I baked this and it was wonderful!
Sweetphi says
So glad to hear!
Becca says
We only had a few blueberries in the fridge, so we filled it in with chopped strawberries. It was 2 cups of fruit total, and it was wonderful! Thanks for the simple recipe!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for the feedback, love that it worked with a mixture of berries!
Kay says
Is it suppose to be soft and gooey or firm? Looks delicious!
Sweetphi says
It’s soft and firm, like a light cake with berries in it, not gooey 🙂
Doniece Brown(Moore) says
All I have is an 8 inch skillet will it work
Sweetphi says
Yes, it will be a little thicker but will work great 🙂
Kristopher S. says
Great recipe! I made it last weekend for a party, and it was a hit, but I made a mess of my counter when I dumped it to cook on a rack. Can I leave it in the cast iron to cool or will that burn it?
Sweetphi says
This recipe is meant to stay in the skillet 🙂 I’ll add that to the recipe notes, definitely no need to turn it out 🙂 So glad you liked it!!
Cassie says
I went blueberry picking today so I would love to make this! Would a 10 inch skillet work? And could I freeze it? Hope all is well with your bundle of joy!
Sweetphi says
Yes, this would definitely work in a 10 inch skillet 🙂 And great question about the freezing, I have never done so (it’s never lasted that long lol) but I think it would be a-ok. Would love to hear how it freezes for you!
Jessica Reyes says
Do you think this would work with frozen blueberries?
Sweetphi says
Yes, this would work with frozen blueberries. I’d just make sure you thaw them/drain the liquid from them before using them 🙂
Eva Muschket says
That’s what I was about to ask too! Thanks Jessica Reyes!
Sweetphi says
I’ll add it in the recipe notes 🙂
Michele M says
The simplest recipes tend to be the best 🙂 I’d love to make this, but I don’t have a skillet…. Could I use a small baking pan (such as a brownie pan) instead?
Sweetphi says
This recipe is definitely super simple and delicious. Yes, you could definitely use a smallerish baking dish (like a brownie or pie pan) to make this 🙂
CakenGifts.in says
Truely this is yummy. My kids loved it very much, So I make it again and again for my kids.
Sweetphi says
I am so happy to hear that – I love this cake in the summertime because it’s so easy and delicious. Thanks for the comment!!
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings says
Can’t believe this has only five ingredients and looks so delicious! Love simple recipes for my busy family!
Amanda @ Cookie Named Desire says
Oh man, what a sweet old man! I am not a huge fan of the term “dump cake” either. Who wants to associate “dump” and “cake” together? The only fresh blueberries I’ve had this year were ones I picked and that was not easy because we went late in the season and most of the berries were gone. We had to really search for them! But it was so worth it! This skillet cake looks so good. I am always impressed with how amazing your 5-ingredient recipes are 🙂
Sweetphi says
Haha, YES, girl I think the exact same thing about the word association lol, and that old man made me smile. Thank you so much for liking my 5-ingredient recipes 🙂
Cheri says
Blueberries have been so delicious this year. What better way to showcase them than in this luscious looking cake.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Cheri, I love making this simple cake with summer berries 🙂
Sharon says
What size skillet are you using? I’m going to try this one.
Sweetphi says
Great question! I’m using a 10 1/4 inch skillet here, but any skillet around that size would work 🙂
Kay Bastian says
Yum, I think I would eat it all in one sitting.
Sweetphi says
Haha, it’s definitely tempting enough to eat in one sitting…and hey, it’s blueberries, so, it’s “healthy” right? 😉