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decorated banana pudding poke cake.
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5 from 1 votes

Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Banana pudding poke cake with soft homemade cake mix and a delicious banana pudding center is an amazing spring dessert. Top with light and fluffy whipped topping and fresh bananas for the perfect easy and delicious banana poke cake.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert Recipes
Cuisine: American
Servings: 24 slices
Calories: 160kcal
Author: Trisha Haas - Salty Side Dish

Ingredients

  • 15.25 oz. vanilla cake mix plus ingredients to make cake
  • 3.5 oz. instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 3.5 oz. instant banana pudding mix
  • 3-1/2 cups milk
  • 8 oz. Cool Whip 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.

Notes

  • DECORATING TOP LAYER: This cake always looks great with a layer of whipped topping and graham cracker pieces or even crushed 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.
  • Sliced Banana can turn brown once exposed to the air for a time, so its best to decorate top of the cake right before serving. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 226mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g