Banana Pudding Poke Cake is a light and fresh spring dessert, a perfect recipe for holidays like Easter or spring potlucks.
Top banana pudding poke cake with fresh bananas and vanilla wafers
You cannot beat the layers of fresh homemade cake paired with banana pudding and creamy whipped topping.
If you are a fan of banana pudding or any banana desserts, this is about to be your new favorite cake!
Banana Poke Cake
Banana is one of those flavors that you do not always consider for a cake, but it’s REALLY good!
With 24 generous slices, this poke cake is relatively large and does great for a crowd. Soft moist vanilla cake mix and a center stuffed with a pudding mixture of vanilla and banana, the sweetness goes down all the way through the middle.
You can also decorate the top layer in just about any way you want (see strawberry poke cake for a more elegant way to use whipped topping) but a smooth layer of whipped cream is an easy way to get this dessert on the table quickly.
Top with real bananas, vanilla wafers, or even graham cracker crumbs before serving!
Scroll to the bottom for a printable version of this post, including all measurements and instructions, so you can follow along in your kitchen without being on your phone.
Here is what you need to gather to get started:
- vanilla cake mix and ingredients to make cake
- instant vanilla pudding mix
- instant banana pudding mix
- milk
- whipped topping thawed
- vanilla wafer cookies
- bananas
RELATED RECIPES: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Banana Pudding Dip, Homemade Banana Pudding, Banana Bars, Crock Pot Banana Bread
Banana Poke Cake Recipe
Just a run down on how poke cakes work before you get started –
- Bake – Bake cake according to package directions and let cool completely.
- Fill – Poke cake with even holes and fill with desired center – in this case banana pudding
- Cool – Allow cake to cool and poked holes to settle with flavors through the middle
- Decorate – Decorate the top with whipped topping, bananas, and vanilla wafers
Bake cake according to package directions and let cool completely.
Best way to Poke a Poke Cake
Simply use a wooden spoon handle to poke holes into the cake in even lines.
Add pudding and milk together in a bowl and whisk well until combined and smooth.
Pour over cake, filling the holes.
Poke your holes as deep or as shallow as you want for your cake
Refrigerate for atleast 5 minutes to allow pudding to go into the center of the cake.
Remove from refrigerator and top with whipped topping.
a back of a spoon spreads a top layer very easily on this cake
Slice bananas and finish poke cake with fresh bananas and vanilla wafers.
Delicious center of banana pudding
Makes 24 slices
Did you make this recipe or alter it in your own way and it was great?
I love to hear your feedback, so please feel free to comment what worked for you.
Banana Pudding Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box - 15.25 oz, vanilla cake mix and ingredients to make cake
- 1 small box - 3.5 oz, instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 small box - 3.5 oz, instant banana pudding mix
- 3-1/2 cups milk
- 1 container - 8 oz, whipped topping thawed
- vanilla wafer cookies
- 3 fresh bananas
Instructions
- Bake cake according to package directions and let cool completely.
- Use a wooden spoon handle to poke holes into the cake, trying to keep holes large enough to allow pudding to pour as well as even throughout the whole cake. Its easiest to just do a row at a time, pushing the spoon handle anywhere from the middle of the cake to the bottom.
- Add both vanilla pudding and banana pudding with milk together in a bowl and whisk well until combined and smooth. Be careful to make sure all the pudding powder is fully mixed and off the sides of the bowl.
- Pour pudding over cake, filling each the holes. There will be excess pudding on the top of the cake, which leaves for an extra pudding layer.
- Refrigerate poke cake for 5 minutes to give the pudding time to settle and the cake to firm up.
- Remove banana poke cake from refrigerator and top with whipped topping. Whipped cream topping can be simply dolled out on the top layer and spread gently with a spatula or back of the spoon. Canned whipped topping also works great for little spurts.
- Slice bananas and top cake with fresh bananas and vanilla wafer cookies on each piece. Note that bananas go brown when exposed to air and cookies can get soft in a fridge, so if not serving immediately, wait until ready to serve before finishing cake. You can also add bananas and wafers per slice right before serving.
- Keep cake in the fridge and covered with foil.
Recipe Notes
- DECORATING TOP LAYER: This cake always looks great with a layer of whipped topping and grahams cracker pieces or even crunched up Nilla wafers.
- STORE BOUGHT TO HOMEMADE: Do not have time to make a cake? A store bought cake without frosting works great in a pinch
- KNIFE CUTS: As with most desserts, cakes and fudges, wiping the knife off between cuts can give you a smoother and more precise (and prettier) cake cut.
Nutrition
Pin this poke cake recipe so you can refer back later
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