Creamy pumpkin custard, spongy cake, and crunchy pecan streusel. This keto pumpkin dump cake bakes itself into three layers from one dish. 4.1g net carbs, and the oven does all the work; I bake it every fall.
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 9x13 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.
What is a dump cake?
A dump cake is a cobbler’s lazier, better cousin. You start with a layer of filling (in this case, pumpkin), sprinkle dry cake mix on top instead of making a separate batter, and let the oven do the mixing for you. I got hooked on the method because there’s no creaming butter, no folding, and no waiting for layers to cool. If you’re more of a chocolate person, my chocolate lava cake scratches a similar itch with even less effort.
The cake mix stays dry on top, and as the pumpkin filling bakes, the moisture rises up and creates a spongy cake layer from underneath. The dry spots that don’t fully absorb turn into that streusel-like crumble on top. It’s one of those things that shouldn’t work but does.
Which cake mix I use
I use the yellow cake mix from King Arthur Baking Company. It’s gluten-free, sugar-free, and clocks in at 2 grams of net carbs per serving, which makes it a solid fit for a keto dessert. As it bakes, the moisture from the pumpkin filling and melted butter transform the dry mix into a spongy, moist cake layer.
If you can’t find King Arthur, a reader tested the Pillsbury Keto cake mix with allulose as her sweetener and it worked well. Other readers have had success with Swerve Granular and Lakanto monk fruit as the sweetener in the filling. Any sweetener that measures cup-for-cup with regular sugar works here. I reach for King Arthur baking sugar alternative, and 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.
How I like to serve it
I almost always serve this warm with a big dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of pumpkin pie spice on top. But here are a few other ways I’ve tried it:
Whipped cream (the obvious choice, and the best one)
Cream cheese frosting (drizzle it over the top while the cake is still warm)
On its own with a cup of coffee, which is how I eat the leftovers
Storage, reheating, and freezing
This is best served warm, straight from the oven. But leftovers keep well: cover and refrigerate for up to 4-5 days.
To reheat, I microwave individual slices in 30-second intervals until warm, or pop the whole dish back in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. The pecan streusel stays crunchier with the oven method.
If you want to make this ahead, you can prep the pumpkin filling and measure out the dry ingredients the day before. I wouldn’t assemble more than a few hours in advance though, because the cake mix starts absorbing moisture from the filling if it sits too long.
I don’t recommend freezing this low carb version. Conventional versions freeze fine for months, but the keto cake layer (made from a gluten-free mix) doesn’t hold its texture after thawing. It goes dense and gummy. I tried it once and tossed the whole batch. If you’re looking for a freezer-friendly dessert, my cinnamon coffee cake holds up much better.
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.
2
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.
For this step
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
3
Dump the cake mix
Evenly sprinkle cake mix on top of pumpkin mixture.
For this step
1 box keto cake mix
4
Streusel topping
Drizzle melted butter on top of cake mix and top with chopped pecans.
For this step
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans
5
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
Per serving: 1/9 of recipe
Calories
343
Fat
32.7g
Protein
5.9g
Total carbs
6.7g
Net carbs
4.1g
Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients listed. Brands vary, so check labels if you track closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use pumpkin pie mix instead of pumpkin puree?
No, I always use plain pumpkin puree here. Pumpkin pie mix comes pre-sweetened with real sugar and pre-spiced, so it would blow the carb count and double up the spice. My recipe adds its own 1/2 cup of sugar-free sweetener and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to plain puree, which is how I keep it at 4.1g net carbs per serving.
Can I swap the heavy cream or nut milk?
Yes. For all heavy cream, use a full cup 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. For a dairy-free version, I haven't tested it fully myself, but the swap is straightforward: 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.
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.
My pecans were nearly burnt by the time the center stopped jiggling, & that crunchy top is honestly the best part, so I’d tent foil around 35 minutes next time. Still really good.
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.
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?
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 9×13, top deeply golden, center still had a wobble. Two batches so far and it’s pushed everything else out of my rotation.
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.
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 (9×13 pan), then off heat for 20 minutes. Sets up fully without the rubbery texture you get from taking it the whole 50.
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.
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 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.
The streusel top is everything promised, but the custard took the full 50 minutes to set, not 40. If your oven runs on the cooler side, plan for it. Worth the patience.
I had a can of pumpkin sitting in my pantry since fall and finally made this last weekend. Swapped the nut milk for coconut cream because it’s what I had, figured the whole thing would fall apart. It didn’t. The custard layer came out like a dense pumpkin creme brulee, nothing like what you’d get from just dumping ingredients into a dish and walking away. The pecan streusel on top gets this deep toasted crunch that I kept pulling off the edges before I even cut into it. I’ve been keto about four months and desserts keep letting me down, but not this one. Already buying more pumpkin.
Made this twice now and the second time my husband actually stood in the kitchen while it was in the oven, which he never does. Something about the way it smells when the pecans toast up and the pumpkin spice gets going. He didn’t believe me that it was three layers until he cut into it and watched it pull apart into custard and cake and crunch. He asked me to make it for Easter, so here we are.
On my sixth batch and making it in March, which says enough. Something about watching those three layers set up in the oven still gets me. The streusel goes from sandy and pale to this deep caramelized crunch around the 45-minute mark. I’ve checked on it way more than I should. Freaking unbelievable that a dump cake does this.
