Chocolate Poke Cake
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This chocolate poke is is perfect for anyone who loves gooey, fudgy desserts. Moist chocolate cake is soaked with chocolate fudge – leaving the cake extra moist with pools of fudge. Topped with chocolate whipped cream and even more chocolate sauce!
Why You’ll Love this Chocolate Poke Cake
This chocolate poke cake has a triple dose of chocolate. The recipe starts with an easy, from scratch chocolate sheet cake. When the cake is still warm, you’ll poke large holes into the cake, then pour a warm chocolate fudge mixture over the cake. The silky smooth chocolate fudge will fill the holes and soak into the cake. Then it’s topped with a fluffy cloud of chocolate whipped cream (it has just a hint of chocolate) and more chocolate sauce.
The cake is incredibly moist, verging on gooey thanks to the chocolate fudge. In each bite you get gooey chocolate, moist cake and whipped cream. While the cake is made from scratch, it’s very simple and requires no decorating skills – which is definitely a win for me!
Making the Cake – Recipe Rundown
You’ll start by making the chocolate sheet cake.
- Prep. You’ll preheat the oven and spray your baking pan. I always use a metal pan for this recipe.
- Whisk the Dry Ingredients. Flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
- Whisk the Wet Ingredients. Oil, eggs, vanilla, milk and boiling water.
- Combine. You’ll carefully whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until no lumps remain. The batter will be very thin.
- Bake. The cake will need about 35-40 minutes.
For the chocolate fudge soak, you’ll melt together a can of sweetened condensed milk with 3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Whenever melting chocolate – be sure to do this slowly to avoid the chocolate burning.
For the chocolate whipped cream, you’ll whip together heavy whipping cream along with a little cocoa and a little powdered sugar. For easier whipping, you want the cream to be cold from the fridge.
To assemble the cake, you’ll
- Poke. You want holes that are about 1 inch apart and go about 1/2 way down into the cake. You can use a large straw, a round piping tip, a thin knife to trace a circle, or simply you the bottom of a wooden spoon to press down holes.
- Pour over the Fudge. Pour/spread the the warm fudge sauce over the cake. If you want to be more precise, you could pipe the sauce into each hole. I recommend tapping the cake pan down on the counter a few times to help the sauce descend into the cake. The sauce should still be warm so that the cake can more easily soak it up.
- Add the Whipped Cream. Spread into an even layer with an offset spatula. Pop the cake in the fridge before adding the whipped cream if it’s still warm.
- Drizzle with Chocolate. You can add a drizzle of leftover chocolate fudge, melted chocolate, or chocolate sundae sauce. This cake is also delicious topped with chocolate chips or chocolate sprinkles.
Recipe Tips
- Use Natural Cocoa. The cake recipe is made using natural cocoa – not Dutch processed (sometimes called dark or specialty dark cocoa). The cake will not rise properly if using Dutch processed cocoa.
- Make the Holes While the Cake is Still Warm. Let it cool for about 30-60 minutes, then poke the holes and pour the warm fudge sauce on top. If the cake has fully cooled when you add the fudge sauce – the sauce won’t soak into the cake as well. It will still be delicious with bites of fudge, but less gooey.
- Use Warm Fudge Sauce. If the fudge sauce starts to cool, it won’t fill the holes as well.
- Place the Cake in the Fridge before Adding the Whipped Cream. The cake must be cold when the whipped cream topping is added. If the cake or sauce are still warm, the the whipped cream will melt.
Storage
This cake should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container or with the pan tightly covered. Leftovers will last in the fridge for about 3-4 days.
The cake can be made 1 day in advance before serving. Make the cake, cool slightly, poke holes and then fill with fudge sauce. Cover the pan and store in the fridge. I recommend only adding the whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top on the day that you plan to serve.
More Chocolate Recipes to Try
Chocolate Poke Cake
Equipment
- 9×13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking pan*
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cup all-purpose flour (250 grams)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (45 grams), sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400 grams)
- 1 cup vegetable oil (240 ml), or canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk (240 ml), I recommend whole milk
- 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (240 ml), or boiling water
Chocolate Fudge Sauce
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk (300 ml can)
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 135 grams), or finely chopped chocolate
Chocolate Whipped Cream
- 2 cups whipping cream (480 ml), 33-35% MF, cold
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar (55 grams)
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃) and lightly grease a 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) metal baking pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Be sure to sift the cocoa first to remove any lumps.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, vanilla and milk. Then whisk the hot coffee into the oil mixture.
- Carefully pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Whisk together until there are no lumps.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. When finished, an inserted toothpick/cake tester should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. The cake should be starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and shouldn't wobble if you give the pan a gentle nudge.
- Remove from the oven and cool for about 30-60 minutes.
- When the cake has partially cooled – the pan should still be warm to the touch but not burning – poke large holes in the cake about 1 inch apart. The should go down about 1/2 of the way to the bottom. You can use a large straw or the bottom of a wooden spoon.
Chocolate Fudge
- Place the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a large heatproof bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds on medium power. Remove from the microwave and stir. Repeat the process until smooth.
- Moving quickly, pour the warm sauce over the cake so that it fills the holes. You can also add it to a piping bag and pipe into the holes. Gently tap the cake pan on the counter to help the sauce descend into the holes. Place in the fridge. If you have any leftover sauce, save it for drizzling on top of the cake later.
Whipped Cream
- In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream along with the sifted powdered sugar and cocoa until medium peaks form. If you like it a little sweeter, optionally, add a little more powdered sugar.
- Spread the whipped cream into an even layer on top of the cake. Be sure that the cake and sauce are no longer warm before adding the whipped cream – otherwise the cream will melt.
- Optionally, top with any leftover chocolate fudge sauce (you may need to microwave it again for it to melt) or top with chocolate chips, chocolate sprinkle, or sundae sauce.
Notes
- Cocoa: Be sure to use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch processed.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Not evaporated milk!
- Whipped Cream: Feel free to omit the cocoa powder for a plain whipped cream.
- Nutrition: Details are an estimate only, based on 1 slice, assuming the cake is sliced into 15 uniform pieces.
- Storage: Store covered in an airtight container or with the pan tightly covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.
