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Easter Poke Cake

Easter Poke Cake is a delightful Easter dessert that is both easy and tasty. The bright and colorful cake with the cheesecake topping will delight your taste buds. For a unique festive appearance, garnish it with Easter sprinkles or your favorite Easter candies. You’ll love this Easter Poke Cake recipe.

easter poke cake recipe

I just love this pretty and colorful poke cake.

It’s perfect for Easter thanks to the multi-color cake and the festive Easter sprinkles on top.

You are going to love the refreshing cake with the cheesecake pudding filling in this Easter cake recipe.

This easy recipe will be a family favorite for years to come.

Disclosure – I may get a small commission for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.

easter poke cake recipe

Key to Success #1 – Use Gel Food Coloring to Tint the Cake Batter

We’re keeping things super simple for this recipe by using a boxed cake mix as the base.

Mix up the cake batter using a box of white cake mix.

Add the ingredients that are called for on the package – usually water, vegetable oil, and eggs.

Next, divide the cake batter into four separate bowls.

To each bowl, add 2-4 drops of gel food coloring in pink, purple, yellow, and light blue.

I highly recommend the Americolor gel food coloring.

Colored cake batter

These are the exact shades that I used:

Stir the gel food color into the cake batter until the batter color is consistent.

Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so that you don’t miss any batter.

Swirled Colorful Cake Batter in a blue dish

Key to Success #2 – Don’t Poke All The Way Through

After the cake is fully baked, allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before poking holes in it.

Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes about 1 1/2 inches apart all over the top of the cake.

If you don’t have a wooden spoon with a small handle, you can use any utensil that has a small and round handle.

Try to poke the holes about 3/4 of the way through the cake.

You want to make sure you don’t poke all the way through the cake because you want the bottom of the cake to remain intact.

Gently poke the holes so that the top of the cake doesn’t get torn up in the process.

Easter Bunny Poke cake

Key to Success #3 – Pour The Pudding While It Is Only Slightly Thick

Combine both boxes of instant cheesecake pudding mix with 3 1/2 cups of cold milk.

Whisk the pudding mixture until the pudding mix dissolves and the pudding starts to thicken slightly.

The pudding should still be mostly liquid when you pour it over the cake.

Adding the pudding to the cake while it is still liquid will allow it to soak deeper into the cake for added moisture and flavor.

The pudding will start to set up rather quickly once combined with the cold milk.

Use a spatula or knife to gently spread the remaining pudding over the top of the cake, spreading it all the way to the edges.

Easter cake multi-color

Key to Success #4 – Top with Cool Whip and Decorate As Desired

After the pudding has been added to the cake, refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes until the pudding has set up completely.

Top the cake with a layer of Cool Whip, making sure to spread it all the way to the edges of the pan.

Decorate your poke cake with Easter sprinkles or your favorite Easter candies.

The exact sprinkles mix that I used is linked below, but you can use any colorful seasonal sprinkles that you have on hand.

easter poke cake recipe

Why You’ll Love This Easter Poke Cake Recipe

This Easter Poke Cake recipe is a fun and delicious way to celebrate the holiday season.

It’s perfect for large crowds and can be easily customized with different colors and flavors.

With its colorful layers, creamy cheese pudding topping, and festive decorations, this cake will be sure to impress your family and friends!

First of all, you’ll love the look of this Easter Poke Cake!

Easter Poke Cake

The bright colors add a cheerful touch to any table setting.

Plus it’s easy to create.

And don’t forget about that special finishing touch – a creamy cheesecake pudding topping that takes your cake over the top!

To make it even richer and creamier just whisk together milk and both boxes cheesecake pudding mix in a medium bowl until slightly thickened then spread over the cool cake.

Your guests are sure to love this delectable treat at your next gathering!

This easy recipe would also be cute topped with rows of Easter Marshmallow Peeps.

You really can’t go wrong with any Easter decorations on this super simple Easter cake.

Show us how you decorated your cake. Post a photo on Instagram and tag us @gracelikerainblog!

Save this Easter Poke Cake recipe to your favorite Easter Desserts board or your Poke Cakes board.

Easter Poke Cake
easter poke cake recipe

Easter Poke Cake

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 37 minutes

Easter Poke Cake is a delightful Easter dessert that is both easy and tasty.

The bright and colorful cake with the cheesecake topping will delight your taste buds.

For a unique festive appearance, garnish it with Easter sprinkles or your favorite Easter candies.

Ingredients

  • 1 box (16 oz) white cake mix + ingredients called for on the box
  • 2 boxes (3.5 oz each) instant cheesecake pudding mix
  • 3 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip whipped topping
  • Easter sprinkles
  • gel food coloring in pink, purple, yellow, and light blue

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Set aside.
  2. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Divide the cake mix evenly into four separate bowls. Use gel food coloring in pink, purple, yellow, and light blue to tint the bowls of cake batter. Stir until each color is consistently distributed.
  3. Working quickly, spoon each color of cake batter into the greased baking dish. Continue spooning the batter into the dish until all batter has been added. Use a toothpick to slightly swirl the colors. Bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  4. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes then use the handle end of a wooden spoon to poke holes about 1 1/2 inches apart all across the cake, poking about 3/4 of the way through the cake. Cool completely.
  5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and both boxes of pudding mix until the mixture is just slightly thickened. Pour pudding over the cool cake. Spread the remaining pudding over the top of the cake.
  6. Refrigerate 20 minutes until pudding sets completely. Top with Cool Whip. Garnish with Easter sprinkles or candies.

Notes

This cake can be made in advance. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

If using hard confetti sprinkles or hard candies, the candies will soften if you refrigerate the cake overnight before serving.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 265Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 589mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 1gSugar: 38gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Information Provided For Educational and Informational Purposes Only.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Have suggestions for improvement?

Your feedback helps us create better recipes for you. Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

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jean downie

Friday 22nd of March 2024

I canโ€™t find the cheese cake pudding mix what else can I use

Jennifer

Friday 22nd of March 2024

See if you can find the white chocolate pudding mix. If not, you can use it other chocolate pudding or vanilla. Both would be delicious!

lea

Friday 3rd of March 2023

Beautiful cake!

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