Boston Cream Poke Cake
on Jul 06, 2015, Updated Oct 21, 2020
When I am in hurry and need to make a quick dessert for our summer bbqs, this Easy Boston Cream Poke Cake is perfect. The recipe is so super simple and uses a boxed cake mix, pudding, and store bought frosting. SUPER simple.
Boston Cream Poke Cake
My hubby is a huge fan of cream filled baked goods. He loves our Homemade Eclairs recipe best. Before we made the homemade eclairs, this super simple Boston Cream Poke Cake was his favorite dessert that I have made.
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The recipe is so super simple but tastes out of this world amazing. The flavor combinations taste just like a high end Boston Cream cake.
Poke cakes are always a hit at our summer bbqs. I make our Oreo Poke Cake often but this is another one of my “go to” cake recipes when I am pressed for time.
This cake is so simple because it uses a store bought cake mix, boxed pudding and store bought frosting. It’s so simple I can have my teens make it for me when needed.
INGREDIENTS
1 box Yellow Cake Mix (plus box ingredients)
2 small boxes (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
4 cup Milk
1 container Chocolate Frosting
DIRECTIONS
Prepare cake in 13×9″ pan according to box directions.
Allow to cool until just slightly warm.
Use spoon handle to poke holes evenly across cake.
Combine milk and pudding mix and whisk until well blended.
Pour pudding over cake making sure it gets down into holes.
Refrigerate cake for several hours to allow pudding to settle and set up.
Open frosting container and remove foil seal.
Microwave for 15 seconds and stir. Repeat this until frosting is pourable.
Pour over pudding layer and spread with spatula to cover completely.
Refrigerate for at least several more hours.
Do you have a favorite summer bbq dessert recipe that you like to make?
This cake is always one of the first desserts that everyone at our bbqs finishes off. Most everyone is always amazed at how simple the recipe is. I like to keep it refrigerated up until I serve it so the layers are perfect. If I am transporting, I will freeze it ahead of time so it stays chilled.
Boston Cream Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box Yellow Cake Mix, plus box ingredients
- 2 small boxes, 3.4 oz Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
- 4 cup Milk
- 1 container Chocolate Frosting
Instructions
- Prepare cake in 13x9" pan according to box directions.
- Allow to cool until just slightly warm.
- Use spoon handle to poke holes evenly across cake.
- Combine milk and pudding mix and whisk until well blended.
- Pour pudding over cake making sure it gets down into holes.
- Refrigerate cake for several hours to allow pudding to settle and set up.
- Open frosting container and remove foil seal.
- Microwave for 15 seconds and stir. Repeat this until frosting is pourable.
- Pour over pudding layer and spread with spatula to cover completely.
- Refrigerate for at least several more hours.
Looking for other great dessert recipes? Be sure to see some of these other ideas that I have shared…
Great Recip . . Thanks, I used Pillsbury Sugar Free Yellow Cake mix, sugar free pudding and sugar free frosting and it was relish ! Thanks
Can you use cooked jello pudding mix iinstead of instant? I really lIke the cooked flavor better.
Ijust finished making this cake after reading the reviews. The instructions were clear but I want to send a special thank you out to Wendy. Her idea of using a large syringe to insert the pudding into the holes was genius. And also to mix the pudding for 2 min. So after our done filling the holes the pudding has set up enough to easily spread on cake. Make sure cake has cooled completely.i also followed her advise to only zap frosting till it was just pour able not runny. For my micro this was only 2 sets of 15 seconds, stirring completely in between. It came out beautifully and was a huge success with my family. Thank you so much for this great,easy but delicious recipie! It is just my kind ofbaking!
I was really excited to make this! And then I messed it up. Apparently you should let the pudding settle a little before pouring over the cake. I am sure it will still turn out somewhat though, just a little disappointed that I didn’t think about that and that it wasn’t mentioned to do so in the instructions! Oh well, you live and you learn! Great idea though, always another day!
I decided to give this Boston poke cake a try but I put a slight twist on it. I used chocolate morsels and melted them and put those on top instead. Use the semi-sweet morsels and use any type of condensed milk or regular milk to melt your morsels. You can even try using Reeses morsels to add a bit of flare.
One possible problem with the pudding frosting may be the amount of milk used. I used the large 6 oz size. You DONT DOUBLE the amount of milk as in the small box. Use 3 cups of milk for the large box.
I put a little twist on my version. First, I toasted 2 big handfuls of chopped walnuts. I didn’t have frosting on hand, so I melted some mini chocolate chips in the micro and thinned it with a bit of water. Estimate I used 1/3 bag of mini chips. I whisked the pudding for the full 2 mins and it partially thickened. Spread it over warm, not hot, cake (unlike gelatin poke cake), sprinkled the walnuts over top, and finished with chocolate drizzle. I was thinking that I could have stopped after spreading the pudding and completely cooled it in the fridge, then topped with whipped cream, walnuts, and chocolate drizzle. This, obviously, is a deviation from the Boston Creme style. I’m taking this to potluck tomorrow. It looks pretty!
Thanks, Jen, for a great idea and a useful blog!
I love this recipe and would have no problem with making it! Some people get impatient with cooking but it’s an art! Thanks for linking up with delicious dishes recipe party!
Can’t wait to try this ! Yummmmmmmm!
This is the most awesome cake ever!!
This is so delicious.. But even better if you add a tablespoon of vanilla extract in the vanilla pudding!!
I have to say, I was a little unnerved by all the comments from people who said the icing was slipping off the top, or the pudding made the cake too soggy, but I had already purchased the ingredients and needed to bring a dessert to a potluck this evening, so I went ahead and made it. I have to say, I don’t know what happened to all those people who had a problem, this cake turned out just like the pictures showed! I completely cooled the cake before pouring the pudding over it, used a large syringe to fill the holes first, by then the pudding was thick enough to spread. I put it in the fridge for two hrs, nuked the frosting until it was not liquified but spreadable and piu it back in the fridge for three hours. Each slice came out firmly and the frosting stayed in place.. Everyone loved it!! Thank you SO much for posting this recipe!!!
Has anyone tried this in a bundt pan?would it work?
This is my kind of cake! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Yummmm. I love this cake. I found this recipe a while back and my husband made it for me when I was having a bad day. It turned around really quickly ;) This is definitely one of my favorite cake recipes! Thank you for sharing it!
Don’t know why folks are having trouble with this recipe. Follow the directions and it comes out great. I’ve made it several times for my kids and they love it. I’m a single Dad and not a great cook.
This recipe was a mess for me! The cake was runny and watery as the pudding never set. The frosting just slide right off when you try to cut it. I followed the directions perfectly and used instant pudding mix.
My pudding was like water.I used instant pudding with 4 cups of milk right? ?
This cake looks amazing! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
What an easy recipe! I was a bit surprised at the short list of ingredients! This would be great for those parties you forget to make something for until last minute. Thanks for linking up with Delicious Dishes Recipe Party!
I made this with instant pudding and it is extremely thin and runny. As the cake naturally domes slightly in the middle, it all ran to the edges. There is barely any pudding in the center of the cake (aside from the amount in the holes) – such a thin layer that it is see through. My next problem is the icing. The pudding is up to the rim of the 13×9 cake pan. There is no lip to catch the icing. I do think know why my cake appears to have risen so much more than everyone else, but I don’t see anyone else saying that this was a problem they faced. I wish I had trimmed the middle of the cake down so that it was fla or possibly allowed the pudding to set up for a minute or two before applying it so that it had not pooled to the edges. I suppose I will be frosting one piece at a time as it is cut.
When I bake a cake that mound in the center, I use another pan, the same size, and while the cake is still warm, I press it on the cake to flatten it out. Works every time and I learned to do it while working in a bakery. You get a nice flat top and don’t hurt thick at all.
Thx for the tip!