Apple Pie Poke Cake
Apple Pie Poke Cake is everything you love about an apple pie turned into a moist and delicious, easy-to make apple cake poked with caramel sauce and topped with Cool Whip and Heath bits.
A FALL FAVORITE POKE CAKE
Apple Pie Poke Cake is a delicious and easy-to-make dessert that the whole family will love. This twist on classic apple pie features a perfectly spiced, luscious apple filling enveloped in a moist and fluffy vanilla cake with a light, fluffy, and crunchy topping. Each bite will surprise your tastebuds with wonderful fall flavors.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
To add a little more texture, feel free to try to add in some cinnamon chips, butterscotch chips, or white chocolate chips to the batter. Any of them would pair nicely with this flavor combination.
This poke cake is pretty moist with the pie filling, so I found that all of the caramel didn’t absorb as most of my other poke cake recipes would have. This is NORMAL and totally okay. To make sure you don’t waste any deliciousness, just scoop some of the extra sauce and drizzle it on top of the slice of cake as you serve it!
Of course! Two other great options to try would be a yellow cake mix or a spice cake mix. They’d pair nicely with these other flavors. You can also make a cake from scratch if desired.
Absolutely. If you have everything on hand to make some whipped cream, feel free to do so. It’ll work out just the same but have even more yummy flavor.
Cover this cake and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Keep in mind that the texture of the Cool Whip may change and start to deflate the longer it’s in the fridge.
Additionally, you can freeze it for up to 3 months when stored properly in a freezer safe container.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- vanilla cake mix – I know you may ask why I didn’t use a spice mix. It’s because I wanted to control the amount (and type) of spice that went into the cake. I think the amount of spice is just right for this cake and the apple pie spice compliments the apple pie filling without being overwhelming. Having said that, you could use a spice cake mix but you may want to leave out the additional apple pie spice addd to this recipe. Yellow cake mix could also be used. I wouldn’t recommend white but that is a personal taste preference for this particular recipe.
- ingredients needed to make cake (eggs, oil and water) – you are going to use the amounts called for on the back of the box of the cake mix you are using.
- apple pie spice – as I said above, I wanted to control how much spice was in this recipe so I didn’t use a spice cake mix. If you like, you can even make your own homemade apple pie spice with just a few pantry staple spices.
- apple pie filling – this recipe could be made low in sugar if you needed. You could use a sugar free cake mix if you can find it, sugar free apple pie filling, sugar free caramel and even sugar free Cool Whip.
- caramel sauce – I just used the squeeze bottle caramel sauce. I thought it made it easier for decorating on top. However, if all you can find is a jarred caramel sauce, it works just as good and tastes the same.
- whipped topping (Cool Whip) – You can make a homemade whipped cream if you’d like. I kept the topping light on purpose. There is a lot going on in the cake itself so I think that combined with a thicker frosting would be a bit too much. However, if you want to make a buttercream frosting, go for it!
- Heath bits – these little bites of toffee ended up going so well with this cake. You can find them where all the other chocolate chips are in the grocery store. If you can’t find them, don’t worry about it, this cake is still delicious without it.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE PIE POKE CAKE
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Add the cake mix and the ingredients needed on the back of the box to a large bowl. Add the apple pie spice. Beat together until smooth for 2 minutes. Fold in the apple pie filling. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
Bake for 26-31 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, this is a moist cake so a few moist crumbs are okay. Immediately take a small utensil like a chopstick and poke holes all over the cake. Pour the caramel sauce on top. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature then place in the fridge for 2 hours. Spread the whipped topping on top and place in the fridge again for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.
When ready to serve, drizzle more caramel on top and garnish with heath bits. Slice and serve.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Apple Pie Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix
- ingredients needed to make cake: eggs, oil and water (use the amounts that are on the back of the box)
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple pie spice
- 21 ounce can apple pie filling
- 1 ½ cups caramel sauce (plus more for topping)
- 8 ounce tub whipped topping (Cool Whip)
- ½ cup Heath bits, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Add the cake mix and the ingredients needed on the back of the box to a large bowl. Add the apple pie spice. Beat together until smooth for about 2 minutes.
- Fold in the apple pie filling. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 26-31 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, this is a moist cake so a few moist crumbs are okay.
- Immediately take a small utensil like a chopstick or skewer and poke a bunch of holes all over the cake.
- Pour the caramel sauce on top. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature then place in the fridge for 2 hours.
- Spread the whipped topping on top and place in the fridge again for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.
- When ready to serve, drizzle more caramel on top and garnish with heath bits. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- Adding some cinnamon chips, butterscotch chips, or white chocolate chips to the batter would be amazing too.
- You can swap out the Cool Whip for homemade whipped topping.
- Some of the caramel sauce will end up on the bottom of the cake pan – this is normal. You can just scoop some of that up and drizzle it on top of each slice.
- Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
It’s ridiculous that it would take 32 pages to print out this simple recipe!!!!!!
Just hit the print recipe button on the recipe card or at the top of the post and it prints out a one page recipe. I’m confused on what you’re trying to do. Are you trying to print the entire blog post out instead of just the recipe card?
Just printed it, one page exactly.