Best Banana Pudding Poke Cake is an easy original recipe made with cake mix poked with banana pudding, topped with Cool Whip and crushed Nilla Wafers!
BEST BANANA PUDDING POKE CAKE
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.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
yellow cake mix
ingredients needed to make cake (eggs, oil & water)
instant banana pudding
milk
whipped topping (COOL WHIP)
Nilla wafers
HOW TO MAKE BANANA PUDDING POKE CAKE:
Originally published: June 2012
Updated and republished: May 2019
BEST BANANA PUDDING POKE CAKE
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- ingredients needed to make cake: eggs, oil & water
- 2 (3.4 oz) packages instant banana pudding
- 4 cups milk
- 1 (8 oz) tub frozen whipped topping (COOL WHIP) thawed
- 20 vanilla wafers crushed
Instructions
- Prepare cake mix according to package directions for a 9x13 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 instant pudding mix with 4 cups milk. Stir until all the lumps are gone.
- 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 your cake has completely cooled, spread on whipped topping.
- Crush the vanilla wafers. 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 before serving.
Video
Notes
Keep refrigerated.
Nutrition
CRAVING MORE POKE CAKE/BANANA RECIPES? CHECK THESE OUT!
BOSTON CREAM POKE CAKE
RED VELVET POKE CAKE
ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE POKE CAKE
PINEAPPLE PUDDING POKE CAKE
CHERRY ALMOND POKE CAKE
CARROT PUDDING POKE CAKE
LEMON BLUEBERRY POKE CAKE
BANANA UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
CINNAMON ROLL POKE CAKE
Turn your pc volume down if my belly grumbles disturb you!
I know I don't comment much anymore but I read all your posts. I MUST try this one. Do you think I could put a layer of sliced bananas between layers of cake better? Or...maybe I could add a couple mushed up nanners in the cake batter before baking??? Just thinking again.
I made banana pudding for my husband the other day and he said it was too sweet. He thought maybe the cream cheese in the recipe was too much. Now I'm on the hunt for a different recipe.......
Made this. Loved it!
So good Brandie - thank you! What an ingenious idea! The family went nuts over it!
In this banana pudding recipe, are you using INSTANT or COOKED pudding?
Hey Sue, you want to use instant.
Hi I m about to make this great recipe .... is there a reason you have to use instant pudding? Please reply .... thanks in advance
it's instant or it would say cook and serve
I never knew what a "poke cake" was! My mother made this same kind of cake using a white cake mix and pouring strawberry jello over it. She "iced" it with cool whip and garnished with fresh strawberries and peaches. It, too, gets better after sitting in the fridge for at least over night.
This looks delicious! Unfortunately, I have just found out that Soy Milk does not thicken Jello instant pudding. It works perfectly for regular cooked Jello pudding mix. I went ahead and poured the mixture over the cake, which will definitely be moist!
Try unsweetened almond milk. It's the best of the nut-milks when it comes to baking!
Try fat free pudding. It needs the casim (sp?) to work. I used to use a whey product and it never worked but it did work with fat free
you use cool whip not cream chesse
People go back and read the recipie AGAIN ,,, nothing said about CREAM CHEESE.. it does call for COOL WHIP .
Made this for our church homecoming. Banana pudding has always been my favorite desert...not anymore...get out of my fridge banana pudding, here comes banana pudding poke cake. This will definitely go to all church & family gatherings with my from this day forward. Taste better the longer the left overs last...Time is a friend to this desert...
There is a poke cake like this in an old recipe book that my grandmother gave me years back, submitted by one of the ladies. She called it a Quilt Cake. German chocolate cake mix as directed. In the holes, pour one jar of caramel ice cream topping and one can of sweetened condensed milk. Good thing is, you can pour right into holes.After chilled, top with cool whip then shaved chocolate. You could use other ice cream toppings. We tried it once with butterscotch. I am looking forward to trying this banana pudding recipe!
Do you mix the Carmel and can of condensed milk? Or pour separately?
Oh, dear. I can usually resist these kinds of desserts but you've hit upon the flavors that most remind me of childhood and now I see a poke cake in my future. Sigh... 🙂
I love all your poke cake recipes! I can not wait to try this one!!!!
Yum! Looks so delicious, and simple too! Great summer cake!
What a fabulous recipe, this looks amazing! 🙂
Thanks Brandi! I found the nanner puddin' recipe and I'm still holding my sides because of "whatever cranks your tractor"!!
I'm gonna use that one for sure!
;o)
Oh heavens to betsy. Goodbye diet. This looks DELISH!!!!
Made this for my hubby for his birthday and he loved it. You are a GENIUS! Thanks again, I love all of your recipes and have tried many! All were good :-)!!!
Do you poke holes through the cake?? Or just to the bottom and not all the way through??? Making this tomorrow!!! Need to know! Thanks in advance!
Hey Betty! Thank you SO much for your sweet comment. And that was a good question so I'll be sure to update the post. Yes, please keep this refrigerated. 🙂
Oh my this look so good!! Love banana pudding, and I know I would love this dish! Seems quick and easy 🙂
http://www.lifeofamodernhousewife.com
That looks VERY good.
This cake sounds great! I, too, love to make poke cakes and poke cupcakes. I use a plastic squeeze bottle to fill the holes. It saturates the cakes better!
My hubby LOVES 'nana puddin'. I can't wait to make this for him.
I'm thinking that around the holidays, use Devil's Food cake, white chocolate pudding, peppermint icing and crushed grasshoppers or thin mints... mmmmmm... drools...
Or lemon cake with pistachio pudding and almond biscotti...
or, or, or... omg, my brain can't take it! So many possibilities!
Great recipe! This looks so good!
Wow! This looks delicious!
A wonderful recipe. So easy and quick and delicious. Thanks for the great post:)
Another fabulous creation from your kitchen that makes our mouths water! Congrats on being featured in Top 9 at Foodbuzz! Your accolades just keep rolling in! You deserve every one of them too. I'd weigh a ton if I lived close to you. =)
This pudding cake looks amazing! I just love anything banana-flavored!
Made this for a cookout recently. No one had ever heard of a "poke cake"! Well, they've heard of it now! LOL! So good girl - thank you!
Congratulations on your foodbuzz top 9, today!
As if you would be surprised but.... We are making this for dessert tonight:))
I can testify that it was amazing! You are so creative. This one is going to be a huge hit. I can tell!
Sounds yummy! Can't wait to try it. I'm going to visit my son and his family and definitely plan on making there. Thanks
My husband loves banana pudding but doesn't love the bananas in there so this is perfect. My parents make a cake simular to this and use a straw to poke the holes! Thanks again and I'm in the process of making this cake now!
Are you going to use a straw or a wooden spoon...curious...would there be more holes with a straw?