Easy Banana Pudding Poke Cake is an easy recipe made with cake mix poked with banana pudding, topped with fresh Whipped Cream and crushed Nilla Wafers!
The inspiration for this Easy Banana Pudding Poke Cake actually started out at work. My co-worker, Heather, loves Banana Pudding. But my other co-worker, Amanda does not like bananas – at all. She likes the flavor of bananas but not the texture. So the idea of the banana pudding poke cake was born. All the banana pudding flavors you love – in cake form.
Also When I was small, I was obsessed with banana. Bananas all the time. Cake, bread, ice cream, pie, and especially banana pudding. This cake is a fun way to satisfy all of those cravings in one 10×13 inch pan.
Is cake from scratch better than box cake?
Easy Banana Pudding Poke Cake – WHAT IS POKE CAKE?
If you grew up eating poke cakes, you’re probably already familiar with the concept. If you didn’t, you might be wondering, “What the heck is a poke cake?”
A poke cake is exactly what it sounds like: After baking a cake, you poke holes in it and then pour on some kind of topping or filling that adds flavor and moisture.
Sometimes it’s a liquid, like Strawberry Jell-O Poke Cake. Sometimes it’s more of a syrup or sauce, like Caramel Apple Poke Cake. Sometimes it’s a pudding, like this Banana Pudding Poke Cake.
Usually the cake is finished off with Cool Whip or homemade whipped cream or even homemade buttercream frosting in some cases.
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.
bite of banana poke cake.
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.
Banana Pudding Poke Cake recipe from The Country Cook. Close up photo of a slice on a small white round plate.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
Start this cake by mixing all your cake ingredients together for 3-5 minutes, until they are well combined. Pour into a greased and floured 10×13 inch pan, and bake at 350 until the top is golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
HOW TO MAKE BANANA PUDDING POKE CAKE:
Start this cake by mixing all your cake ingredients together for 3-5 minutes, until they are well combined. Pour into a greased and floured 10×13 inch pan, and bake at 350 until the top is golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
Once cake comes out of the oven, allow it to cool for just a couple of minutes. Then, with a wooden spoon handle or some other similarly-sized object, begin poking holes in the cake.
poke holes into baked yellow cake.
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.
Banana Pudding Poke Cake recipe from The Country Cook – holes poked into vanilla cake.
In a bowl, whisk together instant pudding with 4 cups milk. Stir until all the lumps are gone. Let pudding sit for about 1-2 minutes so it has just slightly begun to thicken but not fully set, it should still be easily pourable.
mix instant pudding with cold milk in a bowl.
Pour pudding over cake. Taking care to get it into the holes as much as possible.
pouring liquid pudding into holes in cake. (Pour it all over the cake and spread it around, making sure it gets into all those holes.)
Spread it all out and using the back of the spoon gently push pudding down into the holes.
using the back of a spoon, push pudding down into holes in baked yellow cake.
Put the pudding into the fridge to set and cool.
When the cake has cooled completely and the pudding is set. Then whip the cream and spread it on top. Crush the cookies and garnish with the crushed cookies and sliced banana.
If you haven’t done so already, crush your vanilla wafers. I just place mine in a ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Leave some of the pieces big. It’s nice to have a bit of a crunch when you eat the cake.
crushing vanilla (Nilla) wafers in a Ziploc bag with a wooden rolling pin.
Spread crushed wafers onto the top of the cake. You can do this part immediately before serving the cake if you like. This will ensure the wafers are crunchy when you serve it.
sprinkled crushed Nilla wafers on top of Cool Whip.
I think this cake gets more delicious over time. To me, it’s even better the next day so it’s a great dessert to make ahead of time. Serve with freshly sliced bananas. Keep refrigerated.
Best Banana Poke Cake on a plate.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 small package instant vanilla pudding 3⅛ oz.
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 lg eggs beaten
- ½ cups canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
Toppings:
- 1 large box instant banana cream pudding
- 3 cups cold milk
- Whipped Cream:
- 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup powdered sugar or to taste
- ½ tsp vanilla
Garnish:
- crushed Girl Scout Shortbreads or Nilla Wafers
- fresh sliced bananas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 10x13 pan by buttering and flouring, or using baking spray.
- Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, vanilla pudding, sour cream, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix for 3-5 minutes. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes, and then poke holes all over the cake with the bottom of a wooden spoon. Mix large box of instant banana cream pudding with milk with a whisk for 2-3 minutes, or until the pudding mix is fully dissolved, but the pudding is still very pourable. Pour all over the cake, making sure it gets into all the holes.
- Chill cake until fully cooled and pudding has set, about 15-20 minutes.
- Whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Spread on the top of the cake. Garnish with crushed cookies and fresh sliced banana. Serve immediately.
