Banana Pudding Poke Cake (+Video)
Banana Pudding Poke Cake is an easy recipe made with cake mix poked with banana pudding, topped with Cool Whip and crushed Nilla Wafers!
AN EASY BANANA PUDDING INSPIRED CAKE
The inspiration for this Banana Pudding Poke Cake actually started out at work. My co-worker, Heather, loves Banana Pudding. But my other co-worker, Amanda does not like bananas – at all. She likes the flavor of bananas but not the texture. So the idea of the banana pudding poke cake was born. All the banana pudding flavors you love – in cake form.
CAN YOU ADD SLICED BANANAS TO THIS CAKE?
This is made without slices of bananas, however, you could certainly add those on there if you like. My husband and I decided we would just add some freshly sliced bananas right on top of our individual pieces of cake which turned out to be a delicious idea. If I had put them on the cake while I was making it, they would have turned brown within a day. It also makes the cake really pretty if you serve the individual slices with a bit of sliced banana and a Nilla Wafer on top.
CAN YOU USE OTHER FLAVORS OF CAKE AND PUDDING?
Absolutely! Since creating this recipe, I have added about twenty other poke cake combinations. Some of the most popular ones are: Boston Cream Poke Cake, Red Velvet Poke Cake, Oreo Pudding Poke Cake and Lemon Blueberry Poke Cake.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- yellow cake mix
- ingredients needed to make cake (eggs, oil & water)
- instant banana pudding (DO NOT GET COOK & SERVE PUDDING OR IT WON’T SET UP)
- milk
- whipped topping (Cool Whip)
- Nilla wafers
HOW TO MAKE BANANA PUDDING POKE CAKE:
Prepare cake mix according to package directions for a 9×13 cake. Once cake comes out of the oven, allow it to cool for just a couple of minutes. Then, with a wooden spoon handle or some other similarly-sized object, begin poking holes in the cake.
You want the holes to be fairly big so that the pudding has plenty of room to get down in there. Be sure to poke right down to the bottom of the cake.
In a bowl, whisk together instant pudding with 4 cups milk. Stir until all the lumps are gone. Let pudding sit for about 1-2 minutes so it has just slightly begun to thicken but not fully set, it should still be easily pourable.
Pour pudding over cake. Taking care to get it into the holes as much as possible.
Spread it all out and using the back of the spoon gently push pudding down into the holes.
Put the pudding into the fridge to set and cool. Once your cake has completely cooled, spread on whipped topping.
If you haven’t done so already, crush your vanilla wafers. I just place mine in a ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Leave some of the pieces big. It’s nice to have a bit of a crunch when you eat the cake.
Spread crushed wafers onto the top of the cake. You can do this part immediately before serving the cake if you like. This will ensure the wafers are crunchy when you serve it.
I think this cake gets more delicious over time. To me, it’s even better the next day so it’s a great dessert to make ahead of time. Serve with freshly sliced bananas. Keep refrigerated.
CRAVING MORE POKE CAKE RECIPES?
Originally published: June 2012
Updated and republished: May 2019
Banana Pudding Poke Cake (+Video)
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce box yellow cake mix
- ingredients needed to make cake: eggs, oil and water
- 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant banana pudding
- 4 cups milk
- 8 ounce tub frozen whipped topping, thawed (Cool Whip)
- 20 vanilla wafers, crushed
Instructions
- Prepare 15.25 ounce box yellow cake mix with ingredients needed to make cake: eggs, oil and water according to package directions for a 9×13-inch cake.
- Once cake comes out of the oven, allow it to cool for just a couple of minutes.
- Then, with a wooden spoon handle, begin poking holes in the cake. You want the holes to be big enough so that the pudding has plenty of room to get down in there. Be sure to poke right down to the bottom of the cake.
- In a bowl, whisk together 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant banana pudding with 4 cups milk. Stir quickly until all the lumps are gone but before the mixture starts getting too thick to pour.
- Pour pudding over cake. Taking care to pour it right into the holes as much as possible.
- Spread it all out and using the back of the spoon, gently push pudding down into the holes.
- Put the cake into the fridge to set and cool (about 2 hours.)
- Once the cake has completely cooled, spread on 8 ounce tub frozen whipped topping, thawed.
- Spread 20 vanilla wafers, crushed onto the top of the cake before serving. Keep refrigerated.
Video
Notes
- You can spread the crushed wafers immediately before serving the cake if you like. This will ensure the wafers are crunchy when you serve it.
- A layer of freshly sliced bananas can be put on in between the pudding and the whipped topping layers. Note: when you slice the cake, the bananas will start turning brown so try to serve it all the same day it is made. Alternatively, you could add freshly sliced bananas to each individual serving to avoid the bananas turning brown if you are not serving this all up on the same day.
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 can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I don’t like to do that. It really changes the taste of the bananas. I would recommend using powdered citric acid over lemon juice. Or just eat the cake straight away.
We loved it!
Yay! Thank you Shonna!!
bookmarked!!, I love your web site!
Made this stuff twice. Add sliced bananas on top of the banana pudding. Just as good the next day.
Thank you so very much John! You definitely can’t go wrong with sliced bananas on there!:)
Amazing recipe! Loved it!
Thank you so very much Becky!
Tried this with boxed banana cake mix. Fantastic.
You think you can do this with a chocolate devils food cake?!?
I was just wondering what about using reddi whip in the can or homemade whipped cream instead of cool whip..My family doesn’t like it. Thanks
I would use homemade whipped cream over Reddi Whip. Reddi Whip isn’t stable enough to last more than an hour. With the homemade whipped cream, you’ll have to eat this within a day because homemade whipped cream isn’t as stable as Cool Whip. This cake actually gets better the longer it sits so just keep that in mind.
I put a layer of sliced bananas on top of the pudding layer before I add the whipped cream and crushed Vanilla Wafers. That way the bananas don’t turn brown. Awesome recipe. Thank you!
Looks so yummy. I love Bananas so I will enjoy this when I bake it. My Sister will love it too especially when I bake it and she receives a few pieces to enjoy.
I was wanting to make banana pudding for an Easter dessert, but didn’t have any Nilla Wafers, so I decided I would look for a recipe that used a cake mix instead and I found your poke cake recipe. It was absolutely delicious! My whole family loved it and requested that I make it again! To make it even more like southern banana pudding, I poured a can of sweetened condensed milk in the holes first, then poured in the pudding. It was fantastic! Thanks for a great recipe!
Best cake ever, and easy to make!
Yay!! Thank you so much Mary Ann!!
Just got done making this and it’s amazing thank you so much for the recipe
Thank you so very much Emily!!
Best banana pudding I have ever had!!!!!
What’s the best type of milk for the pudding mix?
I’m in uk, love the idea of this but what is the instant banana pudding ? Is there a uk alternative?
Hi Linda – hmmmm…I’m not sure. Do you have a quick-setting custard? You could add the banana flavoring to that.
Can I use a cooked banana pudding?
No unfortunately it doesn’t set up the same.