Jello Poke Cake Recipe
Jello Poke Cake is a recipe we had pretty often as a child because it was so inexpensive and easy to throw together and DELICIOUS. Imagine a moist cake oozing with pudding in the middle. It is heaven.
Between three kids, sewing, babysitting and doing crafts for extra money, and cooking the kind of meals my mother served, Mama was BUSY! She still insisted on a dessert every night though so this was a good and faithful standby, just like her chocolate cobbler. She always let us help with the cooking and we loved to get to poke the holes for this cake. When we were done, it looked more like the victim of a random woodpecker attack but it tasted awesome!
Now on to POKE CAKE!
Recipe Ingredients:
- Cake mix and whatever it calls for
- A box of Jello for pudding and whatever it calls for.
- Also some confectioner’s sugar.
For more the more detail oriented: I am using a box of jiffy cake mix which requires an egg and some water. I am using a small box of Jello chocolate pudding (instant) and the milk that it calls for. If you are making a larger cake (mine is an 8×8), use the large box of pudding. I totally leave out the confectioner’s sugar because I prefer desserts that aren’t too sweet but I am picturing it here and including instructions for it in case y’all wanna include it.
Note: This will work with any cake mix or any cake recipe.
How To Make Poke Cake with Jello
Mix up your cake and bake it according to package directions.
I just put all of the rest of my ingredients for this Pudding Poke Cake Recipe in a Mason jar and give it a good shaking.
Confectioner’s Sugar is Optional
Now this is where most recipes call for confectioner’s sugar. If you are making an 8×8, you add 1/2 cup and if you are making a 9×13 you add a whole cup. Just stir it up with your pudding mix and then add it to the milk and give it a shake. I don’t add it though because I think this cake is just great without the added sweetness. Its totally up to you which way you wanna go!
When the cake comes out of the oven, while its still good and hot, poke holes all in the top of it. Mama says you need to use a wooden spoon handle to do this so the holes are nice and big. Cover the whole cake with holes
Perfect Part Where The Kids Can Help
I know I get on my soap boxes but if you have children, it really would thrill them to be able to help with this part. Kids get so much out of helping you cook. Confidence in themselves, praise from you for a job well done, pride in the finished dish and most importantly, wonderful memories of cooking with you. Don’t ever underestimate how much of an impact something as simple as cooking with your kids can have on their life. Confidence over making a Pudding Poke Cake today just could lead to having the confidence needed to get up in front of congress someday.
While it’s hot, pour half of the pudding over the cake.
Spread that over and let it sink in a bit. Once your cake cools, cover it with the rest of the pudding.
Put in the fridge and get good and cold before serving.
The options for this are limitless. Here are some I thought of and I hope you’ll chime in with your ideas, too!
- Chocolate cake with butterscotch pudding
- White or lemon cake with lemon pudding (mama’s fave)
- Strawberry cake with Cheesecake flavored pudding
- Here’s our Butterfinger Poe Cake too.
Ingredients
- 1 Box Cake mix of your choice
- 1 Box Instant pudding of your choice
- 1/2 Cup Confectioner's sugar (optional) or 1 cup for large cake
Instructions
- Prepare cake according to package directions. While still hot, poke holes all over top with end of wooden spoon. Mix pudding mix and confectioners sugar in a mason jar, add milk and shake or beat with mixer until thickened. Pour half over hot cake. Allow cake to cool. Spread remaining pudding over top and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
You may enjoy these pudding recipes as well:
Easy Homemade Banana Pudding with Meringue Topping
Vanilla Wafer Pudding Recipe With Pineapple
Chocolate Vanilla Wafer Pudding
Baked Rice Pudding Southern Style by Mama Reed
Organized people are just too lazy to look for things.
😂😂😂
Christy, If you love lime jello w/pineapple please try this recipe my family has been eating for as long as I can remember. Make lime jello let set partially, then add in shredded raw carrots & chopped raw celery. Let set til firm. Frost with Miracle Whip Cut and serve . This is so yummy
How interesting!! I will have to try it, thanks for sharing!!
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish only about gossips and web and this is actually irritating. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for keeping this web-site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can not find it.
this is very good.my husband showed me how to do this many years ago. one day i went shopping and him home to watch the boys. he decided to bake a cake. the cake turned out fine. onto the frosting……. not knowing what confectioners sugar was he used granulated sugar. i came home to the best cake i had had in quite awhile. i asked him why he put pudding on the cake and he said he had read it somewhere. oh really, i said to him. oh by the way he said what is confectioners sugar? i used regular sugar ,iused the whole bag and it would not thicken up so i threw it out. the only thing left was pudding. give him credit he tried!!!!! but it worked…….
When my son Ed was growing up this was his very favorite cake. Maybe I will make him one the next time he comes to visit.
I think Ed musta had a wonderful mother growing up 🙂
Could I substitute ingredients for this cake and make a sugar free version? I am diabetic. Growing up I loved lemon lime Kool Aid! I haven’t had any in years. do they even make sugar free kool aid versions? I wish I knew!
I usually use sugar free pudding and I make lemon lime kool aid with splenda! Some kinda yum!!!!
They make sf kool aid but not in lemon lime 🙂
this sounds great…as do most of your recipes…I love your site! When I was younger my mother got one of those fancy pudding mixers that you could shake…I believed she ordered it…it was yellow with a white lid. I still remember using it for the first time to make chocolate pudding and how exciting it was, not sure if the excitement was for the chocolate pudding, which was a treat or just the excitement of shaking that thing until the jello was thickened. Never thought about doing that now with a mason jar…you are SO smart =)
Pudding poke cake is one of my favorites that my mom makes. She always makes it as a 9X13 chocolate cake with vanilla pudding (2 boxes)…So yummy!