I love black forest cake and I love a good poke cake so it was a no brainer for me to give this Black Forest Poke Cake a shot. If you love the flavors of Black Forest Cake, you need to try my Black Forest Cheesecake recipe.
This Black Forest Poke is much easier and quicker to make than the Cheesecake version and tastes equally delicious!
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The last time I made this cake for a party I was hosting, it was gone in minutes. If you love poke cakes, make sure you try my Pumpkin Poke Cake or my personal favorite Cannoli Poke Cake.
What is a Poke Cake
I was curious where poke cakes come from. I couldn’t find much history about them except it looks like it goes back to the early ’70’s.
But you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out what a poke cake is. It’s a cake that you poke holes in after baking. The holes are then filled with condensed milk, pureed fruit, chocolate cream, or pudding to add a little more flavor into every bite.
Tips
- If you are going to grate a chocolate bar over the top of the cake for garnish, I suggest you put the chocolate bar in the freezer before grating. This will help prevent the bar from melting too fast in your hand.
Ingredient Substitution
You can use regular chocolate cake mix in place of the German chocolate cake mix. Use what you have on hand or the flavor you prefer.
Gather your Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients to make this Black Forest Poke Cake recipe. For ingredient amounts please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- German Chocolate Cake Mix – your favorite brand
- Hot Fudge – I like Smucker’s or Mrs. Richardson’s
- Cherry Pie Filling – one of the most important ingredients for this recipe!
- Whipped Topping – Cool Whip is a favorite but you can use whatever brand you want
- Hershey Bar – This is optional. It’s used to garnish the top of the cake
How to Make Black Forest Poke Cake
- Preheat the Oven to 350°F.
- Bake chocolate cake in a 9 x 13 dish according to the directions on the box. The cake is ready when the toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- While the cake is still warm, take the end of a wooden spoon or another round object and poke holes all over the top of the cake.
- Heat the jar of hot fudge sauce in the microwave then pour over the top of the cake, allowing it to absorb in the cake until the cake is cooled. Let set until the fudge is completely cooled.
- Pour the cherry pie filling all over the top of the cake, spreading it evenly. Let the cake cool completely.
- Spread cool whip over the top of the cake.
- Optionally garnish the top of the cake with some shredded chocolate bar.
Black Forest Poke Cake
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Ingredients
- 15 ¼ oz German Chocolate Cake Mix
- 11 ¾ oz Hot Fudge
- 21 oz Cherry Pie Filling
- 2 Cups Whipped Topping
- Hershey Bar, grated (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350°F.
- Bake chocolate cake in a 9 x 13 dish according to directions on box. Cake is ready when the toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- While the cake is still warm, take the end of a wooden spoon or another round object and poke holes all over the top of the cake.
- Heat the jar of hot fudge sauce in the microwave then pour over the top of the cake, allowing it to absorb in the cake until cake is cooled. Let set until fudge is completely cooled.
- Pour the cherry pie filling all over the top of the cake, spreading it evenly. Let the cake cool completely.
- Spread cool whip over the top of cake.
- Optionally garnish the top of the cake with some shredded chocolate bar.
I made this poke cake for a family gathering today. I baked the cake last night ahead of time and finished it this morning. It was so moist and everyone just loved it. So easy to make and will definitely make it again. The 9×13 served 11 people and still had some left over. A five star recipe for sure.