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Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake (+Video)

Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake starts with a boxed cake mix with a deliciously sweetened cinnamon filling and topped with cream cheese frosting!

AN EASY CINNAMON ROLL INSPIRED CAKE

Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake starts with a boxed cake mix, topped with a deliciously sweetened cinnamon filling and topped with homemade cream cheese frosting! This is the same frosting I use on my Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake and my Fresh Strawberry Cake. It is divine!

slice of Cinnamon Roll Poke cake on a brown and white dessert plate with a fork on the side.

WHAT IS A POKE CAKE?

Poke cakes are just cakes that have had holes poked in them and some sort of filling is then poured into those holes. Then the cake is topped with some sort of frosting (to help hide the poked holes.) I have made a bunch of poke cakes over the years and shared them here. The very first one I shared on the blog was an Oreo Pudding Poke Cake then Banana Pudding Poke Cake, Boston Cream Poke Cake and the list goes on!

Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake recipe from The Country Cook, slice shown on a small dessert plate.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

  • vanilla or white cake mix
  • ingredients needed to make cake (eggs, oil & water)
  • sweetened condensed milk
  • salted butter
  • brown sugar
  • ground cinnamon
  • cream cheese
  • salted butter
  • powdered sugar
  • vanilla extract
  • heavy cream or milk
vanilla cake mix, cream cheese, butter, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, butter, powdered sugar.

HOW TO MAKE CINNAMON ROLL POKE CAKE:

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350f degrees, Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

spraying baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour prepared batter into prepared baking fish.

cake batter in baking dish.

After baking, allow the cake to cool. Then using the end of a wooden spoon, poke holes (in about 1-inch intervals) into the cooled cake.

poking holes in finished cake with a wooden spoon handle.

For the filling: In a small bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, melted butter, brown sugar whisked together in a bowl.

Pour the filling mixture into the holes and spread it out using the back of a spoon or a butter knife.

sweetened milk mixture puree into holes of baked cake.

For the frosting: In a medium bowl, mix together softened cream cheese and softened butter with an electric mixer.

butter and cream cheese mixed together with an electric mixer.
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Then slowly mix in powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk (or heavy cream.) Mix until smooth.

powdered sugar added to creamy cheese and butter.

Spread frosting onto cake.

cream cheese frosting spread onto cinnamon roll poke cake.

Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top of the frosting. Then put cake into the fridge for about an hour to allow the cake’s filling to set up.

cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top of cinnamon roll poke cake.

Then serve!

slice of cake on a white and red small dessert plate with a small piece shown on a fork.

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake (+Video)

Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake starts with a boxed cake mix with a deliciously sweetened cinnamon filling and topped with cream cheese frosting!
5 from 17 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 38 minutes
Cooling time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 8 minutes
Servings: 9
Calories: 594kcal

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 15.25 ounce box vanilla cake mix
  • ingredients needed to make cake eggs, oil and water

For the filling:

  • 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 Tablespoons melted salted butter
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the frosting:

  • 1/2 block (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon heavy cream or milk

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350f degrees, Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour prepared batter into prepared baking dish.
  • After baking, allow the cake to cool. Then using the end of a wooden spoon, poke holes (in about 1-inch intervals) into the cooled cake.

For the filling:

  • In a small bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
  • Pour the filling mixture into the holes and spread it out using the back of a spoon or a butter knife.

For the frosting:

  • In a medium bowl, mix together softened cream cheese and softened butter with an electric mixer.
  • Then slowly mix in powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk (or heavy cream.) Mix until smooth.
  • Spread frosting onto cake.
  • Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top of the frosting. Then put cake into the fridge for about an hour to allow the cake’s filling to set up. Then serve!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 594kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 335mg | Sodium: 623mg | Potassium: 163mg | Sugar: 62g | Vitamin A: 830IU | Calcium: 191mg | Iron: 2.7mg

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.

Did you make this recipe?Share it on Instagram @thecountrycook and mention us #thecountrycook!

Originally published: May 2019
Updated & republished: September 2020

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Recipe Rating




22 Comments

  1. Wonderful recipe! I’m going to make this tomorrow for mothers day! Only one question… should leftovers be stored in the refrigerator?

  2. 5 stars
    The BEST cake I’ve ever tasted!!! I’m an anorexic with no binge/purge problem, and I have made 5 of these cakes in the last 7 weeks; I have been pretty much the sole consumer!!! The few measly people I have let have some have gone nuts, also; I don’t think that you can top this recipe, but if you think that you can, please by all means, share that recipe, too!

  3. 5 stars
    I made the cake, had great reviews, however, they mentioned the mixture in the poke holes was crunchy -the brown sugar granules they could feel the texture, anyway to get around that?

    1. Hi Bernadette! So happy to hear everyone loved it! You could melt the butter down with the brown sugar in a small saucepan (melting it slowly and stirring frequently) before pouring it all in to the cake. 🙂

  4. I’m getting ready to make this tonight for work tomorrow – very excited to try it! I noticed that you used cooking spray with flour – is it necessary to flour the pan or is that perhaps just the type of cooking spray you had on hand?

  5. 5 stars
    I made this yesterday and took it to work, everyone loved it including myself. Was excellent, super moist. Will definitely make again. Thank you so much for the recipe, I’m going to try your Banana Froster Poke Cake next.

      1. Brandie. Can I make the cake and frost it two days later. Btw this is the most requested dessert I make. Everyone loves!!!

      2. Hey Linda – so happy everyone loves this recipe – yay!! So, to answer your question, I haven’t tested that so I can’t say for absolute certain but it seems to me that it would work. Let me know if you try it!! 🙂

  6. 5 stars
    OMG this looks and sounds so AMAZING!! And easy… my kind of dessert! I’ll definitely be trying this soon… I’ll let u know how it turn’s out. 🙂 Yumm!