Hot Fudge Poke Cake
This decadent Hot Fudge Poke Cake features homemade chocolate cake soaked in hot fudge sauce and topped with Cool Whip, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and maraschino cherries.
We love poke cake. Of course, the classic poke cake with gelatin is fantastic, as is poke cake made with pudding. However, we like to cook even more outside the box, so we made a poke cake featuring homemade chocolate cake and hot fudge sauce. Oh, yes, it’s delicious!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It only uses simple baking ingredients.
- It’s an easy recipe that even beginners can make.
- It’s loaded with rich chocolate and sweet Cool Whip flavors.
🛒Ingredients
It only takes af ew simple ingredients to make this recipe, and most of them are probably in your kitchen right now. Anything you don’t have is easily found at your local grocery store. Be sure to check the recipe card at the end of the post for exact quantities.
For the Cake
- Baking powder
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Milk
- Oil
- Vanilla
- Large eggs
- Boiling water
Filling
- Hot fudge sauce
- Sweetened condensed milk
For the Topping
- Cool Whip
- Chocolate sauce
- Sprinkles
- Maraschino cherries
🔪 How to Make Hot Fudge Poke Cake
This cake might be homemade, but it’s incredibly easy. Even beginners can do it with no problems at all. In just a few minutes, and a few simple steps, you’ll have a delicious poke cake!
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish. Set aside.
Step 2: Make the Cake Batter
Combine all cake ingredients except the boiling water in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Then, pour in the boiling water and beat until creamy.
Step 3: Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 40 minutes.
Step 4: Poke Holes in the Cake
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then poke holes all over the cake using the handle of a butter knife.
Step 5: Add Chocolate Fudge Sauce
Whisk the hot fudge sauce and sweetened condensed milk in a mixing bowl until smooth. Then, pour it over the warm cake.
Step 6: Cool
Let the cake cool to room temperature.
Step 7: Top the Cake
Spread the whipped topping over the cake. Then drizzle with chocolate sauce, add sprinkles, and top with maraschino cherries. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Chocolate Cake – You can use boxed cake mix if you prefer.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Poke Cake – Add peanut butter powder to the whipped topping for a chocolate peanut butter poke cake.
If you think this cake looks good, then give our chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting a try.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Pot
- Baking dish
🥫 Storage
Store this cake in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
💭 Tips
- Make sure you blend your cake batter until it’s super smooth and creamy.
- Use the handle of a butter knife to poke holes in the cake so the hot fudge can get inside it.
- Be sure you only poke about halfway down into the cake so it doesn’t fall apart when you cut it.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
A poke cake is a kind of cake in which holes are poked into the cake after it’s baked so some kind of filling can be spread over the cake and soaked into it.
If you poke holes too close together or too deeply, the cake will fall apart when you cut it.
Yes. Poke cake should be refrigerated for storage and flavor.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy poke cake? Then try these delicious recipes:
📌 PIN IT!!
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Hot Fudge Poke Cake
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- 9×13 baking dish
- wooden spoon or knife
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 2 cups Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking soda
- 1 ½ cups Sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ⅔ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup Milk
- ½ cup Oil
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 3 Large eggs
- 1 cup Boiling water
For the filling:
- 12 ounces hot fudge sauce
- 14 ounces Sweetened condensed milk
For the topping:
- 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
- Chocolate sauce
- Sprinkles
- Maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add all of the ingredients except for the boiling water to a mixing bowl, and blend until smooth.
- Pour in the boiling water, and beat until creamy.
- Layer the batter in a well greased 9×13 baking dish.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, and then use the bottom of a butter knife to poke holes all over the cake.
- In a bowl, whisk together the hot fudge sauce and the sweetened condensed milk until smooth.
- Pour the mixture over the top of the warm cake.
- Allow the cake to cool to room temperature.
- Layer the whipped topping over the cake.
- Drizzle on the chocolate sauce.
- Add the sprinkles, and top with maraschino cherries if desired.
