If you love Boston Cream Pie, this is going to become your new favorite way to eat cake! It's so simple using a cake mix and creamy frosting.
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If you know us, you know we love a good shortcut! With a cake fix and creamy frosting you’ll have your new favorite dessert. This Boston Cream Poke Cake is next level tasting and so easy to make!
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make Boston Cream Poke Cake, you will need the following ingredients:
- Yellow cake mix, 1 box
- Water
- Vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Milk
- Instant vanilla pudding
- Chocolate frosting, 1 container, (or favorite homemade chocolate frosting)
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to make Boston Cream Poke Cake
- Heat oven to the temperature suggested on the cake mix box. Make cake mix according to directions on box by adding in the water, vegetable oil and eggs.
- Bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan as directed on cake mix box.
- When cake is finished baking and is still warm, poke holes all over cake using a wooden spoon handle or other similar size object (you want those holes fairly big so the pudding has room to get in there and you need to poke straight through to the bottom of the cake).
- In a medium bowl, add milk to pudding mixes and continue to whisk until most of the lumps are removed.
- Pour pudding on top of warm cake, making sure to pour straight into the holes in the cake.
- Take a spoon and spread it evenly across the top of the cake (very gently press down pudding 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 and microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Stir frosting with a spoon- it should still be thick. Gently spoon or 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.
Storage Suggestions
If you manage to have any leftover cake, these can store well if prepped appropriately. Once the cake has cooled completely, here is how you can store it:
- Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
- Freezer: You can freeze completely cooled, un-frosted cake. First, wrap it either in plastic wrap or Press & Seal wrap. Plastic wrap tends to be a little difficult, and require multiple layers. However, we usually always have plastic wrap on hand. Make sure to label your frozen cake with the date made. Frozen cake can last in the freezer for up to 3 months
Enjoy More Delicious Poke Cake Recipes
Some days there’s nothing we want more than a slice of chocolate cake. Check out our comprehensive list of cake recipes here.
- Blueberry Cheesecake Pudding Poke Cake
- White Raspberry Poke Cake
- Strawberries and Cream Poke Cake
- Strawberry Coconut Poke Cake
Boston Cream Poke Cake Recipe
If you love Boston Cream Pie, this is going to become your new favorite way to eat cake! It's so simple using a cake mix and creamy frosting.
Serving Servings
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix, 1 box
- 1 ⅓ cups water
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 4 cups milk
- 2 (3.4 ounce) boxes instant vanilla pudding
- 16 ounces chocolate frosting, 1 container, (or favorite homemade chocolate frosting)
Instructions
- Heat oven to the temperature suggested on the cake mix box. Make cake mix according to directions on box by adding in the water, vegetable oil and eggs.
- Bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan as directed on cake mix box.
- When cake is finished baking and is still warm, poke holes all over cake using a wooden spoon handle or other similar size object (you want those holes fairly big so the pudding has room to get in there and you need to poke straight through to the bottom of the cake).
- In a medium bowl, add milk to pudding mixes and continue to whisk until most of the lumps are removed.
- Pour pudding on top of warm cake, making sure to pour straight into the holes in the cake.
- Take a spoon and spread it evenly across the top of the cake (very gently press down pudding 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 and microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Stir frosting with a spoon- it should still be thick. Gently spoon or 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 208 kcal · Carbohydrates: 23 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 12 g · Saturated Fat: 6 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 45 mg · Sodium: 182 mg · Potassium: 161 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 16 g · Vitamin A: 169 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 108 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Sounds so wonderful, have to try it some day! Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
Yum! My grandmother always make Boston Cream Cake with two round cake layers and the vanilla pudding in the middle. This will taste the same but be a lot easier!
Oh, I looooove this. My dad will flip for it.
Hello Sisters! this is the desert i made for our early Xmas supper! it was very easy today and was very tasty and very sweet. my only thing about this recipe, if i make again, i wouldnt use all the pudding. i made the 2 pkgs that was asked for the recipe and followed all the instruction, after puddings was spread all over and pushed into the wholes.. with the pudding left on top of cake. it was hard to spread icing without mixing pudding in it( icing was warmed a bit, not too warm though..) so anyway to make long story short, in the future, i ll still make 2 pkgs of the instant pudding but will only use the 2/3 of it.. thanks for posting recipes that easy to do, good to eat and budget friendly!
Thanks for your helpful suggestions! We love comments to improve our recipes! Have a Merry Christmas. -The Six Sisters
I agree it was a bit of a challenge to get the frosting spread evenly without mixing any pudding in, but it wouldn’t be Boston cream without that layer of pudding on top of the cake! This was the quickest dessert I’ve made in quite a while and everyone loved it.
I loved this cake the first time I made it! It is a perfect summer dessert because it is served cold. Everyone loved it, the pudding made the cake super moist and the chocolate frosting was to die for on top!
I made this for a family birthday party. I didn’t use all the pudding either. Definitely poke the holes in your cake before mixing the pudding and then pour it quickly into the holes before it has completely set up. By the time I was done doing this, it had set up so it was easy to spread on the top of the cake without it running down the sides, which was important as I made this a little more challenging for myself by doing it in two 9″ rounds and then stacking. I had to work fast! As far as spreading the frosting, I heated it more than the 10-15 sec. I started out with 12 seconds but it was still fairly thick and not pourable, so I heated it two more times in 10 sec intervals and stirred in between. I ended up with an easy to work with pourable frosting that covered the pudding on top very easily and ran down the sides. Hope that helps someone with the frosting. It was delicious!
Do I need to keep the cake in the refrigerator after everything is set up? Thanks so much. Love all of your site!!!!
It can set out for an hour or two, but then you may want to put it back in the fridge since it has pudding and milk in it.
This is an oldie. I am 80 years old and I remember my mother making this cake (and also the pie, which my dad preferred) back on the 1940’s. Think I’ll try your version on the littlies, my grandkids.
I made this for the first time today at my son’s request for his birthday. Everyone had seconds, there were none left!
