In times of stress, last minute company for dinner or just any old weeknight, we are all about easy cakes and a poke cake is one of the easiest cakes you can make. It's also a fun project for kids to help with (or for adults to work out some tension), since the best of the cake making process is poking all the holes in the cake. The poke cake is also one you can customize easily, with almost no end to flavor combinations (also a fun experiment for the kids).
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The process for a poke cake is basically this: Step 1, bake a cake. Step 2, poke holes in the cake with a wooden spoon. Step 3, while the cake is still warm, pour your liquid of choice over the top of the cake. Step 4, wait until the cake cools and then frost. Step 5, try to wait patiently through all the other steps before you can have your delicious cake.
We've rounded up 16 easy poke cake recipes we know your whole family will love.
16 Poke Cake Recipes
1. Strawberry Jello Poke Cake
This poke cake recipe can be a template for any poke cake: cake mix, jello, Cool Whip topping. But you should try this delightful strawberry version because the colors of this cake are just so pretty. Top off the cake with fresh strawberries for another pop of color.
Get the recipe here.
2. Chocolate Poke Cake
This cake turns the chocolate up to 11. Melt chocolate chips with the sweetened condensed milk for a kind of chocolate ganache. Pour that over a cake made with Devil's Food chocolate cake mix. Top with chocolate whipped cream. Add more chocolate chips and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Indulge. Recover from chocolate-induced haze.
Get the recipe here.
3. Banana Pudding Poke Cake
If you love banana pudding, this is the cake you want to try because there is banana pudding mix in the cake. Top it with fresh sliced bananas and add some walnuts for crunch. Get the recipe here.
4. Orange Creamsicle Poke Cake
Save this cake for the dreariest day of winter. It tastes like an orange creamsicle pop from the ice cream truck at the beach and will have you feeling warm and sunny in no time. Get the recipe here.
5. Irish Cream Poke Cake
Got some Irish cream? Make this cake. Instead of the usual sweetened condensed milk or pudding mix, you use Irish cream (your favorite brand or a homemade version). Top with a whipped cream frosting or with the same frosting you would use on a Guinness cake.
Get the recipe here.
6. Boston Cream Poke Cake
What do you get when you mix yellow cake mix, instant vanilla pudding and chocolate frosting? The easiest Boston Cream cake you'll ever make. Get the recipe here.
7. Easy Lemon Creme Poke Cake
This poke cake recipe has spring all over it. Use a lemon cake mix (white or yellow works, too, if you want to tone down the lemon flavor a bit) and lemon pudding. The recipe also calls for a bit of sour cream for a bit of extra tangy taste. Make sure to top the whipped topping with candied or fresh lemon slices.
Get the recipe here.
8. Cookies and Cream Cake
Chocolate cake mix, cookies and cream pudding, and Oreos or your favorite sandwich cookie: This poke cake is a chocolatey, creamy, cookie dream.
Get the recipe here.
9. Chocolate Turtle Cake
This cake has all the salted caramel, chocolate and pecans you could desire. It's also the perfect foundation for ice cream (more salted caramel, anyone?).
Get the recipe here.
10. Southern Coconut Poke Cake
For this twist on a traditional Southern coconut cake, mix coconut cream with the sweetened condensed milk. The recipe calls for whipped topping, but no one is going to complain if you make a coconut frosting for this delicious cake.
Get the recipe here.
11. Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake
What's better than a homemade cinnamon roll? A homemade cinnamon roll that takes less than an hour to make. To speed up the process just a bit, refrigerate the cake and filling so that it's completely cool when you add the cream cheese frosting. You can definitely have this cake for breakfast.
Get the recipe here.
12. Gingerbread Poke Cake
Spicy sweet with a cookie crunch, this cake tastes like the winter holidays. Use a spice cake mix and add some additional molasses, then top with caramel sauce and gingersnaps.
Get the recipe here.
13. Blueberry Cheesecake
Cheesecake pudding, blueberry sauce and a cream cheese whipped cream topping all combine to make this blueberry cheesecake an easy treat. Using the cheesecake pudding is a great idea; it's cheesecake without the time and fuss, and the cream cheese whipped cream is the perfect topping.
Get the recipe here.
14. Red, White and Blueberry Poke Cake
This patriotic cake is a little more elaborate, but it's so worth it. Bake a white cake mix in two layers. Add strawberries and blueberries to strawberry and blueberry flavored jello (respectively); pour the strawberry jello mix over one layer and the blueberry jello mix over the other. When the cakes are cool, add whipped cream topping, stack the layers, and frost the whole cake. You can also top with red, white and blue sprinkles for an even more festive look.
Get the recipe here.
15. Watermelon Poke Cupcakes
These have got to be the cutest summer cupcakes out there. White and pink on the inside, pastel pink and green on the outside, with mini chocolate chips standing in for the watermelon seeds. The watermelon jello makes the cupcakes taste delightful, too.
Get the recipe here.
16. Pumpkin S'mores Poke Cake
Summer shouldn't get all the fun poke cake recipes; have a PSL (or pumpkin wine) with this pumpkin cake for the perfect autumn treat.
Get the recipe here.
