Butterfinger Cake Recipe
This Butterfinger cake is the easiest poke cake you’ll ever make. Featuring a chocolate cake base and topped with caramel topping, Butterfinger candy, and Cool Whip, it’s the definition of a deliciously decadent dessert.
It’s true, everyone I know loves this Butterfinger cake recipe. Grown men swoon for it, and children polish their halos and change their vocabulary to “mother dear” for it. No cake I have ever had in a restaurant holds a candle to this indulgent poke cake.
This is the ultimate in decadence and guess what else? EASE! This is the easiest cake on earth to make. Never have you stopped a show with so little effort. All you have to do is bake the boxed cake mix according to the instructions, smear your cake with a sweet and addictive condensed milk and caramel topping combination, then add a thick layer of whipped cream and crushed Butterfinger crumbs. Just like that, you’re ready to enjoy a slice of your deliciously moist Butterfinger cake.
In case you didn’t know, I’m a big fan of poke cakes because they’re easy to make and mouthwateringly delicious. Here are some more of my favorite poke cake recipes: s’mores poke cake, Jell-O poke cake, pineapple poke cake, and Candy Corn poke cake.
Recipe Ingredients
- Devil’s Food Cake Mix (the cheaper the better, we want a good old coarse cake).
- Can of sweetened condensed milk
- Caramel topping
- Cool Whip
- Butterfinger candy bar
How To Make Butterfinger Cake Step by Step
Prepare cake mix and according to the package directions.
When it comes out, poke holes all in it with a fork or the handle of a wooden spoon, just like we did on the pineapple poke cake. Don’t stop until it looks like a swarm of four toothed mosquitoes attacked!
Pour the entire can of sweetened condensed milk into a bowl, add the caramel topping, and stir to combine.
How to Make it a Poke Cake
While the cake is still hot, pour the caramel/condensed milk all over the top and spread it around evenly. Then let it soak in. Oh my good lord almighty, this is gonna be good.
Sprinkle 3/4 of the chopped Butterfinger crumbs over the cake. Now let it cool a bit. I stick mine in the fridge at this point.
Once it is cooled, top with the whole thing of whipped cream and remaining Butterfinger bits. Refrigerate.
Now, you can eat this now but it really and truly should get good and cold before you do.
Alright so go ahead and eat a bit now if you have to, but just promise me you’ll have another slice once it cools. You may even need to have two or three slices once it is good and cold so you can make sure you are tasting it fully as it would be quite rude to serve something to others which you have not adequately tasted – for their own good, of course.
Storage
- Because of the whipped topping, you must store any cake leftovers covered in the fridge. They’ll last for up to 3 days.
- If you want to store leftovers in the freezer, I recommend freezing the cake without the whipped topping and candy crumbs for best results. Store the cake in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
- Instead of the chocolate cake mix, you could use a yellow cake mix or fudge marble cake mix instead.
- Alternatively, substitute the Butterfinger candy bar for your favorite, whether that’s Snickers, KitKat, or Twix. You could even use a combination of your favorites. Just chop them up and sprinkle them on top!
- If you want to add an extra indulgence to your cake, drizzle it with peanut butter, extra , or some chocolate syrup.
- The Canadian and UK version of a Butterfinger bar is a Wunderbar.
Recipe FAQs
What is a poke cake?
A poke cake is a cake that is poked full of holes to allow icing, Jell-o, pudding, or in this case, sweetened condensed milk and caramel, to slide on through. By “poking” the top of the freshly baked cake the syrup or cream runs down into those holes, settles in there real good, and enhances the taste of the cake. Poke cakes gained popularity around the 70s when cake mixes were introduced.
What is the difference between Butterfinger cake and Better Than Anything cake?
The main difference between these two cakes is that Better Than Anything cake uses Heath bars rather than Butterfinger candy bars. But the rest of the recipe is basically the same.
Can I make this poke cake in advance?
Yes, if you want to assemble the entire Butterfinger cake recipe ahead of time, you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, the Butterfinger crumbs will lose their crunch after a day or so. Another option is to make the cake ahead of time and then add the toppings before serving.
Here are more delightfully easy cake recipes to bake:
Easy Birthday Cake Recipe From Scratch
Super Easy King Cake Recipe (WOW GOOD!)
An Easy Cheesecake Recipe With Cheesecake Topping Options
Peach Dump Cake Recipe (3 Ingredients Only)
Ingredients
- 1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
- 1 bottle caramel topping
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 large tub Cool Whip
- 1 Butterfinger bar
Instructions
- Prepare the cake according to package directions. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, poke several holes all over the top with a fork.1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
- Mix sweetened condensed milk and caramel together and pour it over the hot cake. Make sure to spread it over the entire cake. Chill well.1 bottle caramel topping, 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- After the cake has chilled completely, spread the Cool Whip over the top and sprinkle the crushed Butterfinger bar on top of the whipped topping.1 large tub Cool Whip, 1 Butterfinger bar
Nutrition
Hi, I made this cake today and it looks exactly like the picture. I think it would be the perfect dessert for fall considering the orange and brown from the butterfingers. I’m sure I’ll be making this a lot in the future. Thanks for posting such a great easy to follow recipe! 🙂
I made this cake today and it is the bomb as far as taste and good to look at as in the appearance. It will be one of my new cakes going forth when I do a women’s outreach ministry event. I am glad I ran across this site a few months ago. I also made the Angel food cake with the pudding for our Pray-ER Luncheon and it was a hit as well.
God Bless You!
I came upon this recipe while I was looking at Miss Patsy’s Coconut Cake. Both sound delish so I must try them! We have several birthday’s in our family this month and I can’t wait to make these!! Thanks!
Made this tonight… AWESOME!!! TY TY TY
Christy – in your picture – you spread some of the butterfinger on the hot cake…but in the directions you didn’t mention that and…. I followed the printed version – do you think it will change the ‘taste’? I loved the carmel and condensed milk together…. I licked the bowl!!!! lol Judy
Judy: I noticed the same thing — the detailed recipe differs from the concise recipe. I just bought the ingredients and plan on making this later today. I’m taking no chances: I bought TWO Butterfinger candy bars. One I’ll sprinkle over the cake, the other over the icing. I’ll try to post later how everything turned out.
Meanwhile I’m looking for Snicker’s Cake 😉
I couldn’t find the topping and got a bottle of syrup??? You think it will be the same?? And I am thinking about drizzling some of the caramel and maybe some fudge topping over the top with the remaining candy?
The syrup will be just fine. No worries!
I made this cake and brought it in to share with co-workers. No one could wait until after lunch so we ate the thing at 9am in the morning, which was an hour of waiting that almost killed some of us. Of course it was a huge hit, of course I had to give out the recipe, now everyone wants to know when I will make the next cake, which is amusing. I have told so many people about your website and cookbook, there will be many more of these made. Thanks.
Oh My Goodness!! That sounds Sooooo Delish!!!! Om Nom NOM!!