Boston Cream Poke Cake
This Boston Cream Poke Cake tastes just like the “pie” but in a simple sheet cake form! Easily made with a boxed cake mix, pudding and chocolate frosting!
AN EASIER VERSION OF THE FAMOUS PIE
This is an easy and fun cake that everyone wants the recipe for. I have made this recipe more times than I can count for friends, family and co-workers. It’s requested for birthday cakes, celebration cakes and just because! It tastes just like a Boston Cream Pie but so much easier to make!
TIPS FOR MAKING BOSTON CREAM POKE CAKE:
- You’ll need a large round wooden spoon handle or other similar sized object to poke the holes. You want fairly large-sized holes for the pudding to go into.
- Don’t let the pudding set before pouring onto cake. Whisk the pudding well for a minute or two then start pouring straight into the holes of the cake.
- When softening the frosting in the microwave (to make it pourable) make sure not to get it bubbling hot. Just microwave it for a few seconds at a time and stir after each time until it gets to a smooth, pourable consistency. The cake should be completely cooled before doing this.
- I have tons of different poke cake ideas here on the blog. You can have a lot of fun with these cakes by switching out the cake, pudding and frosting flavors! One of my most popular poke cake recipes is this Banana Pudding Poke Cake
- I do not recommend doing this as a layer cake. It just won’t hold up because of the pudding.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- yellow cake mix – you could use a butter cake mix but you will need to use the ingredients called for on the back of the box (butter instead of oil.) You could also use a vanilla cake mix or you can make a homemade yellow cake!
- eggs, oil and water – you will be following the directions on the back of the cake mix box for a 9×13-inch cake.
- instant vanilla or French vanilla pudding – it has to be instant – not cook and serve. It will never set up if you use the cook and serve.
- chocolate frosting – use your favorite brand and it can either be the creamy kind or the whipped kind.
HOW TO MAKE BOSTON CREAM POKE CAKE:
Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9×13 pan. When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake (about 1-inch) intervals using a wooden spoon handle or other similar size object. 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, add milk to pudding mixture and continue to whisk until most of the lumps are removed.
Pour pudding on top of warm cake. Taking care to pour straight into the holes in the cake. Take a spoon and spread it out. I like to very gently press down to ensure that pudding goes into the holes and spread it all the way to the sides.
Put cake in fridge and allow to cool completely before adding the frosting (about 2 hours.) Remove the lid and foil covering from the tub of chocolate frosting. Pop it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Stir with a spoon. It should still be thick but pourable – not bubbly hot. Pour chocolate frosting on top of pudding.
Spread frosting to evenly cover cake. Start in the middle and gently spread to the sides.
Allow to cool on the counter for a few minutes, then put into the fridge to fully cool and set up. This cake needs to be kept refrigerated.This is one of those cakes that I think tastes better after it has sat in the fridge overnight. It really helps the pudding to settle in and blend all the flavors.
CRAVING MORE POKE CAKE RECIPES?
Originally published: March 2012
Updated photos & republished: June 2023
Boston Cream Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce box yellow cake mix
- ingredients needed to make cake; eggs, oil and water
- 2 (3.4 ounce) boxes INSTANT vanilla or French vanilla pudding
- 4 cups milk
- 16 ounce tub chocolate frosting
Instructions
- Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9 x13-inch pan.
- When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake (about 1-inch) intervals using a wooden spoon handle or other similar size object.
- 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, prepare pudding. Whisk together instant pudding mix with 4 cups milk. Whisk for about a minute until most of 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 refrigerator to set and cool (about 2 hours).
- After age has cooled, remove the lid and foil covering from the tub of chocolate frosting. Put it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds.
- Stir with a spoon. It should still be a little thick but pourable – not bubbly hot.
- Pour chocolate frosting on top of pudding layer of cooled cake. Spread frosting evenly over cake starting in the center then spreading it towards the sides.
- Allow to cool on the counter for a few minutes, then put into the refrigerator to fully cool and set up.
Video
Notes
- This cake needs to be kept refrigerated. This cake tastes even better after it has sat in the fridge overnight.
- For a more homemade cake flavor, try substituting the water in the cake mix recipe with milk.
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.
I am sharing this on FB with the following post- My kids made this cake last night- It was GREAT! And easy enough a 5 yo and 7 yo did it (only needed me to take the cake out of the oven!). They used a yellow butter golden cake, store brand vanilla pudding (2), store brand chocolate frosting. It set up great! Daddy said it was one of our best ideas yet! Thank you for sharing! There will be LOTS MORE poke cakes in this house!
Just saw this on Pinterest and this looks AMAZING! My MIL makes a Jello-o cake with the 'poke' technique – this I will have to try! Thanks!
~Jaime @ CouponCrazyFreebieFanatic.com
LOVE this cake… I made it and it disappeared, everyone liked it as well… 😀
I love this cake I aslo made the banana pudding poke cake but my family just loved this one more! the first time i made it when poking the hole I made kind of a mess but it was still good! So this time when poking the hole I use a turkey baster and while I poked and twist this seemed to be less messy and less crumbs and the then when I poured the pudding I did it slowly so the pudding can go in the holes Im still practingon these recipies but having fun while I am doing it! thanks again for the recipies!
I've made your red velvet poke cake and it was a huge hit at work! I just bought the stuff to make this one, and was wondering if you or anyone on here has tried doing these as cupcakes?
It says to do it while the cake is WARM…not HOT. I just did mine and waited about 10 minutes. I used a plastic mixing spoon and the procedure was tedious but problem free. I also substituted cheesecake flavored pudding for regular vanilla, just to make the flavor a little more interesting. I also dropped the cake on the counter (from only an inch or so) a few times to help the pudding settle into the holes a bit. Looking forward to sampling the result at tonight's birthday dinner.
Mine didn't come out nearly as neat looking as your after the hole poking step. I used a wooden spoon handle within about a minute of removing it from the oven…it looked really messy afterward. Should I have let it cool longer?
Stumbled onto your site from Pinterest. Oh. My. Goodness. Can't wait to try some of your poke cake recipes. Lots of parties coming up this summer, just screaming for lemon, Boston cream or red velvet poke cake!
I made this cake last night for a cookout (today). It tasted delicious and it was a big hit! However, my icing never really set up. I made the cake/pudding parts last night and added the icing this morning after a night in the fridge. I stored it in the fridge until right before it was served. Any suggestions as to why the icing was runny?
2 AND 1/2 CUPS OF POWDERED SUGAR–2 TSP.WHITE KARO CORN SYRUP–2 TSP. VANILLA-3 TBS. SOFTENED BUTTER OR MARGARINE–3 TBS. MILK.
i USE IT ALL THE TIME. IT WORKS.
JOYCE
This recipe is just amazing! I made this last night and I can't stop eating it! LOL hopefully there will be some left for my son and husband later. This site is my new go to for recipes. Thanks again.
This is wonderful! Too bad when I was putting it back in the fridge after we all got a taste test tonight I dropped it. 🙁 Oh, well I will just have to make it again! 🙂
? for you – could I put a chocolate ganache frosting over the
pudding? Where you combine heavy cream with chocolate morsels and cool – then spread on?
never heard of poke cake before, they all look delicious. I will have to resist trying them all.
thank you for the great cake recipes—-well all
the recipes
Looks wonderful! Do you think this would work with a gluten-free cake mix?
hmmmm…I've never tried but I'd love to hear your results if you give it a go!
I do not usually comment but had to on this. My husband has always been a fan of Boston Cream Pie. He has had diabetes for quite a few years so hasn't had one in quite a while. I made this with all "no sugar added" ingredients. He absolutely loved it!!
Yay!! I just love hearing that!! Thank you so much for letting me know!!
Yay! I really appreciate y'all coming back to let me know how a recipe turned out for you. I am just so happy this one turned out to be a success! ~Brandie
This cake is amazing! I made it this morning and had a piece this evening and it was sooo good! I didn't have any problems with the icing moving around, etc. The first piece was a little difficult to get out 'clean' but it still tasted wonderful! 😉 Can't wait to try the coconut poke cake this week for a work potluck! You and your recipes rock! Thanks! 🙂
Finally made this and hubby said it was one of best cakes I've ever made…not bad for 30 yrs of baking for him. 🙂
Anon- I certainly don't consider myself an accomplished cook- but I've made my share of mistakes before!! One of them was to use soy milk in a pudding/cool whip frosting for my lactose sensitive hubby. It didn't set up right and I later read that there's something about soy milk that doesn't work with jello. Go figure! I don't know if this is true of other dairy alternatives now available (almond, coconut, rice…) but maybe Google has an answer 😉
I have the cake in the oven right now and I am SOO excited to take this to a friend's house tomorrow! Boston Cream meets Poke Cake = Match made in heaven 🙂
Can you make this with soy milk??
My review: HUGE HIT!!
My husband loved it. I made the lower fat version of the cake from the directions on the box (using water & unsweetened applesauce). I made 2 boxes of the 1 ounce puddings (yes, they were the sf/ff version) and it was too much pudding, but still very good!
I cannot wait to try another flavor of your poke cakes. Thank You!!
Thanks everyone. I'll report back with a review. 🙂
Anon… Double check those boxes .. they may be the sugar free kind.
wow! you're awesome, thank you so much for your quick response. we might just be able to figure this out so i can make it for thursday. yes, i live in the U.S., new york.
the smaller box (1 oz) uses 2 cups of milk and makes four 1/2 cup servings so 2 cups.
the larger box (1.5 oz) uses 3 cups of milk and makes six 1/2 cup servings so 3 cups.
i stood in the baking aisle trying to figure it out, i even asked another shopper. lol is this information helpful to help figure out how much pudding i should make (pudding & milk)? thanks again, i appreciate your assistance!!
Thank you Cheesy – good point! Are you looking at the blue boxes of instant Jell-O pudding. Those are the sugar free kind. Perfectly fine to use if you want to make this lower in sugar but I just use the regular kind myself. If you are going sugar free, then I would use the 1 oz. boxes. Hope it turns out good for you!! ~Brandie
Hmmm…I've never seen boxes that small. How much milk are you supposed to add to those small boxes. Your guess would be as good as mine here. Our standard boxes here are generally around 3 oz. for the small and close to 5 oz. for the large. Are you here in the U.S.? I would just hate to tell you wrong and you are using a brand or pudding that I am not familiar with that has different instructions than what we are used to here. ~Brandie
bought ingredients to this recipe today, but i have ??? b/c they don't sell the exact measurements of the instant pudding. there are small 1 oz. boxes and larger 1.5 oz. Do you buy enough to equal 6.8 oz since the recipe calls for 2 @ 3.4 oz?? What is the consistency of all of the pudding with only 4 cups of milk?? Am I reading this wrong? Help b/c I'm hoping to surprise my husband with it for a V-day dessert. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
This was amazing. I made it for the Super Bowl. Thanks so much for this recipe. It's a keeper!
I made this cake a couple of days ago. I have never made a poke cake before. My husband told me that this was very, very good and to keep this recipe! I agree that this cake is better after being in the fridge overnight. I made it on Sunday afternoon and we had some after church Sunday night. The frosting slid around a little bit, but it was still good. It didn't slide any the next day and was so good. It reminded me of eclairs, too!
I made this poke cake last night and it was delicious. Only thing was when i first tried to cut it it was a little gooey still, but it was still good. I suggest to keep it overnight so the pudding and frosting can sit in so when you do cut it the next day you will have no mess 🙂 enjoy!
My hubby loves boston cream pie so I will be making this for him..I know he will love it..and it seems allot easier than the cream pie version…thanks…:)
Brandy – so happy to hear you had success with this one! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you!
Sheryl, that is just the sweetest comment – thank you!! It makes my day to hear that. I hope you have lots of success with any of the recipes you might try!
I just stumbled across your site and have spent the last 2 hours just looking over all the recipes you have posted. I could spend the whole day here, but then I wouldn't be able to try some of these wonderful recipes. Thank you so much for sharing, and please don't stop. I will be checking back here often. Love, Love, Love, this site.
Thanks for this quick delicious dessert recipe! It was great!
I was wondering if anyone had tried this recipe using cupcakes instead of cake. I think it would be easier to take to the holidays with lots of kids. Thanks!
I have been looking for this recipe for years! I remember making these as a kid, but I had no idea they had an actual name: Poke Cakes. TYVM.
Oh-My-Goodness!! I have become ADDICTED to poke cakes and your WONDERFUL site! So far we have had Banana Cream Poke Cake, Oreo Poke Cake and I have *just* put the pudding on the cake for the Boston Creme Poke Cake. My humble thanks to you! 🙂
OMG i was looking for a different cake to make for my sons birthday. he told me to surprise him so i am totally going to make this one!!!! thanks!!!!!! 😀
This cake is delicious !!
I made it and my husband was in heaven. It is one of my favorites.
Just made this…second time!!Love it!!
I believe I just gained 10 lbs! This one is new to me and I will be making it ASAP. I have all the ingredients I believe…and I'm sure the grands will love it.
Thanks for sharing!
Pat
Do you have any idea what your doing to me here? lol . I stumbled upon your website from Pinterest and ever since been over looking your recipes like they were real *more like wishing i could just reach through computer to grab a slice of cake. But enough said i shall be making this cake after i go shopping today . *Your killing me lol. thanks for sharing such yummie looking treats .
Love Boston Cream Pie … which is actually a cake of course. I definitely want to make this at the next occasion. I have been perusing all your poke cakes and they all look good.
My yellow cake is in the oven right now, taking it to a party tonight. I'm so excited to eat it, thank you for this recipe!
Absolutely wonderful and easy! Just made this tonight, again because don't ya know it's my little honey boy's favorite! He's a 16 yr old that want's you to know he's so glad his momma found your wonderful site! He personally sends his thanks! God bless and keep those lovely recipes coming! You are a fabulous cook! And you have made me one too! 🙂
I used a turkey baster to fill the holes with pudding. That way i know the pudding is everywhere it belongs.
I am new to your site!!! I love Boston Cream donuts, but since I am a diabetic…..I can not have the orginal receipe. So I used the Pillsbury Sugarless yellow cake mix, instant sugarless vanillia pudding, and the final touch sugarless Pillsbury Chocolate frosting. This was very good and I could enjoy it. Thank you!!!!!
I'm making this for my husband's birthday in a few weeks! Can't wait too see his face as he LOVES Boston Cream. I'll be sure to link back to you when I blog about it.
Looks like a cake my husband would love, and sounds perfect for an upcoming family reunion. Thanks so much for the great recipe!