Chocolate Poke Cake
This Chocolate Poke Cake is ultra-moist, intensely chocolatey, and filled with warm homemade pudding. It’s finished with a glossy chocolate frosting that sinks into every bite. Decadent doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time35 minutes mins
Chilling Time4 hours hrs
Total Time5 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Servings: 12
Cake:
- 1¾ cups flour
- 1¾ cups sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup brewed coffee cooled
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Pudding:
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
- 2¼ cups milk
- 1 tbsp butter
Poured Frosting:
- ⅓ cup milk
- ⅓ cup butter
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 pan.
Combine milk + lemon juice and let sit 5 min (to make buttermilk).
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder.
Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes. Batter will be thin.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30–40 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Pudding:
In a saucepan, whisk sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Add cold milk.
Heat over medium, stirring constantly, until it boils.
Boil 1 minute, then remove from heat and stir in butter.
Let cool 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Assemble:
Poke holes all over warm cake with the end of a wooden spoon.
Pour warm pudding over cake, spreading to fill holes.
Chill 30 minutes before frosting.
Frosting:
In saucepan, combine milk, butter, and sugar. Boil 45 seconds.
Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips. Whisk until smooth.
Immediately pour over cake.
Chill at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
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Don’t skip the coffee — it enhances chocolate flavor but doesn’t taste like coffee.
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Use whole milk for richer pudding.
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Let cake chill overnight for best texture and flavor.