Name: Boston Cream Poke Cake Recipe
Prep time: 160 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 190 min
Ingredients: 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix (1 box); 1⅓ 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))

If you love Boston Cream Pie, this is going to become your new favorite way to eat cake! We keep our Boston Cream Poke Cake simple by using a cake mix and delicious creamy frosting from your favorite grocery store.

If you know us, you know we love a good shortcut! I, unfortunately, may never be the mom who makes a delicious birthday cake from scratch for my kids, but give me a cake mix and you know I can doctor that thing up to some amazing, basically homemade tasting dessert.

We’ve been big boston cream pie fans for a long time, so of course even the thought of Boston cream cake got us to the grocery store.

Here’s what you’ll need to make Boston Cream Poke Cake:

1 yellow cake mix (and ingredients called for on box, usually eggs, oil, and water).
2 boxes instant pudding vanilla
4 cups of milk
1 Can of your favorite chocolate frosting

You’ll also need a 9×13″ pan, a wooden spoon, and a whisk!

Related Article: Chocolate Cake Smothered with Sweetened Condensed Milk, Hot Fudge, and Andes Mints! Everyone loves our Thin Mint Poke Cake!

How to Make boston Cream Poke Cake

Start by mixing together the ingredients for your cake. We keep this pretty simple by following the directions on the box for baking. It may vary from brand to brand, but it’s never too difficult!

Once your cake has baked, take the end of a wooden spoon and poke holes in your cake. You don’t have to follow any particular pattern or method, just make sure your spoon is wide enough that the pudding can seep through.

In a separate bowl, mix together your pudding and your milk. Whisk it until it begins to set up. Then slowly pour it over the holes in your cake mix.

We used the opposite end of our wooden spoon to spread out the cake mix and make sure it covered all of the holes. It may not all sink down at once, but if you’ve got a good layer over each hole, it’ll sink while your cake cools.

Cool your cake in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, or until the pudding has set up and the cake is no longer warm. This will help your frosting set up faster.

Remove the foil or plastic from your frosting container and pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. You’ll want it to be pourable, but not piping hot.

Related Article: This White Raspberry Poke Cake is light and refreshing because of one secret ingredient!

Pour your frosting over your cake and spread it evenly, covering all the edges. Let it cool again in the refrigerator until the frosting has set up. This will only take about 20-30 minutes.

Now you are ready to go! Slice up your cake and serve it, we like to serve ours right out of the fridge.

More Poke Cake recipes on six sisters’ stuff

New to poke cakes? They truly are the best way to eat your cake! Here are a few more of our favorite recipes!

Boston Cream Poke Cake Recipe

If you love Boston Cream Pie, this is going to become your new favorite way to eat cake!

Prep Time 2 40

Cook Time 30

Total Time 3 10

Save Print

Ingredients

▢ 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix, 1 box
▢ 1⅓ 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)

Equipment

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

Cuisine: American

Course: Dessert

Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.

Recipe source: The Country Cook

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Questions & Reviews

Monsterscircus says:

Sounds so wonderful, have to try it some day! Have a wonderful weekend :-)
Jenny says:

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!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says:

Oh, I looooove this. My dad will flip for it.
Lison Lacharite says:

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!
Six Sisters says:

Thanks for your helpful suggestions! We love comments to improve our recipes! Have a Merry Christmas. -The Six Sisters
Katherine says:

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.
Amanda says:

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!
Rachel says:

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!
Leann says:

Do I need to keep the cake in the refrigerator after everything is set up? Thanks so much. Love all of your site!!!!
Cyd says:

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.
Eleanor says:

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.