Keto Pumpkin Dump Cake
Published December 17, 2022 • Updated March 14, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
I make this pumpkin dump cake every fall, and it separates into three layers as it bakes: a creamy pumpkin custard base, a spongy cake middle, and a crunchy pecan streusel on top. Just dump everything into one dish and let the oven do the work.
I started making this keto pumpkin dump cake a few years ago, and it’s the fall dessert I come back to every year. The thing that sets it apart is what happens in the oven: the batter separates into three distinct layers on its own. A creamy pumpkin custard on the bottom, spongy cake in the middle, and crunchy pecan streusel on top. No careful layering, no special technique. It just does it.
The whole thing comes together in about 10 minutes of hands-on work. I mix the pumpkin filling in a separate bowl (don’t try to do it directly in the baking dish or you’ll mess up the parchment lining), pour it in, sprinkle the cake mix over the top, drizzle with melted butter, and scatter pecans. That’s the entire process. No mixer, no sifting, no careful folding.
What I’ve figured out after making this more times than I can count is that bake time matters more than anything else. My oven runs about 41 minutes for a 9×13 dish. I’ve had readers land closer to 43, and both are in the sweet spot. You want the top spongy but not jiggly when you move the pan. If the pecans start getting too dark before the center sets, tent it with foil and keep going. A square baking dish takes longer (closer to 50-60 minutes) because the batter is thicker, but you get taller, more pronounced layers.
The pumpkin layer goes almost custard-y underneath the streusel, and I think that’s what hooks people. It’s not a traditional pie texture and it’s not quite cake. It’s somewhere in between, almost like a pumpkin pudding with a crunch on top. One reader brought this to Thanksgiving and had three people ask for the recipe before dessert was over. Another has made it five times this winter and settled on 43 minutes as his perfect bake time. That kind of repeat-making is what tells me a recipe actually works.
If you’re into pumpkin desserts, I’ve got a whole lineup. My pumpkin cheesecake is richer and denser, the pumpkin cream cheese muffins are great for individual servings, and the pumpkin mug cake is my go-to when I want something in under 5 minutes. For something in the cobbler family, my peach cobbler uses a similar dump-and-bake method.
I serve this warm with a big scoop of whipped cream or a drizzle of cream cheese frosting. It’s the kind of low carb dessert that people who aren’t even watching carbs ask about.
Explore hundreds of keto recipe videos with step-by-step instructions, tips, and tricks to make keto easy.
Ingredients
15 oz can pumpkin puree -
1/2 cup heavy cream
-
1/2 cup nut milk
-
5 eggs
-
1/2 cup sugar-free sweetener
-
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
-
1 (10.6oz) package Duncan Hines Keto Cake Mix
-
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
-
1 cup chopped pecans
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Prepare baking dish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray cooking oil into either a square baking dish or a 9×13 baking dish and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
Make pumpkin pie filling
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, heavy cream, nut milk, eggs, sweetener and pumpkin pie spice. Pour into prepared baking dish.
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup nut milk
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar free sweetener
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Dump the cake mix
Evenly sprinkle cake mix on top of pumpkin mixture.
- 1 box keto cake mix
Streusel topping
Drizzle melted butter on top of cake mix and top with chopped pecans.
- 3/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Bake
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes if using a 9×13 rectangle baking dish or 50-60 minutes if using a square baking dish or until cake is spongy on top but not jiggly when you move it. Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
Your Macros. Your Recipes. Calculated in 60 Seconds.
Get personalized keto macros and instantly see which recipes fit your targets. No more guessing what to eat.
Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called a dump cake?
You literally dump the ingredients into the pan without mixing them together the traditional way. I pour the pumpkin filling in, sprinkle the dry cake mix on top, drizzle butter over everything, and add pecans. No separate bowls for wet and dry, no folding, no stand mixer. The oven does the combining for you.
Can I use all heavy cream instead of nut milk?
Yes, and I've done it. Use a full cup of heavy cream and skip the nut milk entirely. The filling comes out slightly richer and denser, which I actually prefer. I wouldn't go all nut milk though. If you need a dairy-free option, use all coconut cream instead.
Can I make this dairy-free?
I haven't tested a fully dairy-free version myself, but the swap is straightforward. Use coconut cream in place of the heavy cream and melted coconut oil instead of butter. The coconut oil won't soak into the cake mix quite the same way, so expect a slightly different streusel texture on top. I'd start there and see how your oven handles it.
Which sweetener works best in this recipe?
I use a sweetener that measures cup-for-cup with regular sugar (I reach for King Arthur baking sugar alternative). My readers have tested several and reported back: Swerve Granular, Lakanto monk fruit, and allulose all work. If I had to pick a favorite for baking, I'd go with allulose because it browns more naturally and doesn't have any cooling aftertaste.
Can I use walnuts instead of pecans?
I've only tested it with pecans, but walnuts would work fine on top. They toast a little faster than pecans, so keep an eye on them after the 30-minute mark and tent with foil if they're getting too dark. I'd chop them to about the same size as you would pecans.
How do I know when it's done baking?
Press the top gently. It should feel spongy and spring back, not wet or jiggly. My oven consistently finishes this around 41 minutes in a 9x13 dish, though I've had readers who hit their sweet spot at 43 minutes. If the center still moves when you nudge the pan, give it another 5 minutes. The pecans looking golden is not your done signal because they finish before the pumpkin layer sets.
What if I can't find a keto cake mix?
I've only tested this with boxed cake mixes (King Arthur and Pillsbury both work), not a from-scratch version. That said, if you want to try it, a mix of about 1.5 cups almond flour, 2 tablespoons coconut flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and a pinch of salt should get you in the right range. You'd still sprinkle it dry on top the same way. I plan to test this properly and update the recipe when I do.
Should I use a square pan or a 9x13?
Both work, but they give you different results. My square baking dish (8x8) makes a taller, denser cake with more pronounced layers. It also takes longer, about 50-60 minutes. A 9x13 bakes faster (around 40-45 minutes) and gives you more servings that are thinner and a bit less rich per slice. I've made it both ways and reach for the 9x13 most of the time.
Pulled this out of the oven an hour ago and it's half gone already!!
Half gone in an hour is about right, Chris. I keep meaning to make two at once so I actually get leftovers.
Definitely making two next time. One didn't stand a chance.
Streusel crack and I'm somewhere I haven't been in years.
That crack is the butter pooling under the dry cake mix. Lauren, I've made this every fall for years and I still eat the corners first just for the streusel.
Cutting into this and seeing three layers is what got me. My grandmother made a regular dump cake when I was growing up, and the thing I loved most was that custard underneath. I never knew how it got there. Just figured she had some trick she kept to herself. Now I get it: the egg ratio in the pumpkin base sets while everything else builds on top. Four stars only because the pecan layer softens faster than hers did after day one, but that's the dump cake format, not anything wrong with this recipe.
Made a dump cake once with a box mix and the texture was totally off, so this time I'm actually paying attention. Got coconut cream in the pantry instead of nut milk and thinking about subbing it in, maybe a bit less since it's thicker. Mostly worried it'll mess with the custard layer at the bottom. Does the liquid ratio matter that much for the three-layer split, or is it forgiving enough that I won't notice?
Coconut cream for the nut milk works. Pull back to 1/3 cup. Layers split from the eggs, not the liquid ratio.
Portioned the full 9x13 into nine pieces Sunday night. By Wednesday the custard had firmed up enough to slice clean, cleaner than day one actually. Didn't expect that from something this loose out of the oven. The pumpkin layer is pretty mobile when it's fresh, so I was skeptical it would hold in the fridge. Four days in, pecan streusel still mostly intact. That's the real test for anything I batch-prep. Twenty seconds in the microwave and it warms through without going rubbery. Four stars because I'm still figuring out my sweetener ratio, but anything that holds this well through day four is staying in the rotation.
That firming-up-over-days thing is real, I've noticed it too. For sweetener, I use King Arthur's baking sugar alternative at the full half cup. Cooling aftertaste? Try allulose.
The smell around 30 minutes in is what convinced me. Keto pumpkin desserts have been hit or miss for me, mostly almond flour-heavy versions that turn out dense and dry where you want soft custard. This one's different because of the egg count. Five eggs against one can of pumpkin creates that gelatinous, jiggly custard base you actually want, not quick-bread texture. The Duncan Hines mix does its job without pushing artificial sweetness past the pumpkin. I pulled mine at 45 minutes in a 9x13, top deeply golden, center still had a wobble. Two batches so far and it's pushed everything else out of my rotation.
That wobble is the custard, not underdone. It sets as it cools. Five eggs guarantees that.
That dry, starchy thud when the cake mix lands on the wet pumpkin is my cue to slow down. First batch I shook it straight from the box and ended up with crumbly dry patches where the butter never soaked through. Fork first. Spread it, nudge it into the corners, then drizzle the butter over the even surface. Took me two batches to figure that out, embarrassingly. The streusel came out consistent edge to edge after that, and that layer is genuinely the whole reason you're making this.
That even layer before the butter is what I should've spelled out in the recipe. Two batches to crack it is actually fast.
dump method beats scratch. there, I said it.
Three layers from one pan with zero mixing, Scratch can't do that.
Brown the butter first. Takes about three extra minutes on the stove but the streusel is noticeably different, there's this toasty, almost nutty depth that plays really well with the pumpkin spice coming up through the custard below. Start checking at 40 minutes and pull when the edges are fully set with just a slight jiggle in the center (9x13 pan), then off heat for 20 minutes. Sets up fully without the rubbery texture you get from taking it the whole 50.
Rob, I haven't done browned butter here yet and now I have to. That nutty depth in the pumpkin spice sounds exactly like what the streusel needs.
Made this probably five times now, usually I wait until October but the craving hit and here we are in June. Started toasting the pecans in a dry pan before they go on top and it completely changed the streusel layer. Way more depth, almost a caramel-y nuttiness underneath the crunch that I wasn't getting before. Can't go back to the untoasted version.
June pumpkin totally tracks. I dry-toast pecans for other recipes but never applied it here specifically, and now I feel like I've been missing something. That caramelized depth doesn't happen in 30 minutes of oven time from raw.
Seven times and still four stars, because no recipe should make pecan streusel that dangerous.
Seven times earns the four stars. That streusel is the reason I don't halve the butter.
Batch five and three layers still feel like a small miracle every time.
It gets me every time too. Especially the custard base.
I was out of pecans so I used walnuts instead, and I think I prefer how it turned out. The walnuts have a slightly bitter edge that cuts through the sweetness in a way that works really well with the pumpkin custard layer. One tip: press them down gently into the butter before it goes in the oven so they stick to the streusel instead of rolling off the top. Giving it four stars for now because I want to try the original pecan version before I fully commit to walnuts.
That pressing trick is smart. Walnuts also toast faster than pecans, so check at 30 minutes and tent with foil if they're getting dark before the center sets.
I had this bookmarked since fall and finally made it this weekend figuring pumpkin doesn't care what month it is, and that custard layer at the bottom is legitimately better than every other keto pumpkin dessert I've made.
Pumpkin has no season. That custard layer is the whole reason I keep making this in May too.
Pumpkin desserts felt completely off-limits for three years of keto, which I'd mostly accepted. Last fall I made this twice before Thanksgiving and both times felt like I was getting away with something. The three layers that just happen without any effort on my part (custard on the bottom, streusel on top) genuinely surprised me. My one note is that mine took closer to 55 minutes to set since my oven runs a little cool, so keep an eye on the center before pulling it.
Three years off pumpkin and this is what brought you back. The layers do that to people. I've had readers tell me they watched through the oven door because they didn't believe it would actually work. On the 55 minutes: that's real. Cool ovens need it, sometimes past 55, and the center has to feel spongy and spring back before you pull it.