4 Poke Cakes You Need in Your Life

Banana Pudding Poke Cake
Photo: Photo: Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox

In search of an easy-to-assemble cake recipe that's also filled (literally) with rich flavor? Look no further than the poke cake. This old-school dessert first became popular in the 1970s as an attempt by Jell-O to up the sales of its products. (Read more about the history of the poke cake.) The process is simple: First bake a sheet cake (the traditional cake color was white), poke holes in it, and pour the Jell-O flavor of choice over it to create a colorful, crowd-pleasing dessert. As shown by our overview of 50 years of Southern recipes, the 1970s inspired many unique but delicious culinary creations. Today, poke cakes are seeing a resurgence of popularity. Choose Jell-O as your filling, or try sweetened condensed milk, pureed fruit, flavored syrup, and more. If you're short on time, you can swap the made-from-scratch cake with a box mix for an equally as delicious product. Poke cakes are ideal for serving a crowd, so try these different recipes for treating guests at occasions all year round.

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Salted Caramel Gingerbread Poke Cake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

Salted Caramel Gingerbread Poke Cake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
Daniel Agee

Recipe: Salted Caramel Gingerbread Poke Cake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

The combination of gingerbread and pumpkin flavors will make this cake your next go-to for fall and holiday baking.

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Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Banana Pudding Poke Cake
Photo: Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Homemade vanilla pudding makes this cake soft, moist, and flavorful. To save time, instant vanilla pudding works just as well in this recipe. We recommend chilling the cake in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

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