dump cake
n.— «A chocolate “dump” cake promises joy in an hour. Also known as a one-bowl cake, the procedure lets you plop all the ingredients into one mixing bowl, give them an unceremonious twirl and scrape the batter into the baking pan. An extreme version skips all gewgaws and is mixed with a wooden spoon in the pan it bakes in.» —“Chocolate dump-cake derby puts divas’ recipes to the test” by Virginia Phillips Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Apr. 20, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Eric from Harrisonburg, Virginia, wants to know: What’s the origin of footloose and fancy-free, which describes someone unencumbered by obligations or worries? This is part of a complete episode.
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I’m very surprised to find the term here, because “dump cakes” have been around forever. I ate my first one as a child (back in the early ’70s), and I’m sure they go back to at least the first cake mixes. Just to a web search for “recipe dump cake” to learn more–heck, I’ll include my favorite recipe in the link below.
The reason I recorded it is that it didn’t show up in a cursory examination of any mainstream dictionaries! I made a cite so that, given enough time and interest, I can thoroughly investigate it later to see if it warrants a full entry.
Check out this site on the history of “dump” cakes and “wacky” cakes:
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html