This rich pumpkin poke cake starts with a doctored up cake mix, for a moist cake filled with caramel, topped with the best cream cheese frosting and a crunch topping. It’s a perfect better than sex pumpkin cake, that’s delicious to eat all autumn long.
This pumpkin poke cake is one of the best cakes I’ve ever made! It’s like a better than sex cake with the perfect fall pumpkin twist. The cake is stuffed full of a caramel and sweetened condensed milk mixture.
I’m one of those people who would eat pumpkin all year long, but I’m usually good, and limit myself to eating it, and baking with it during the fall months. I have a few fall favorite pumpkin recipes that you have to try, like my pumpkin muffins and my pumpkin bread recipe.
How to Make a Pumpkin Poke Cake?
This pumpkin cake is so easy to make! It literally starts with a cake mix, that’s how easy it is. The yellow cake mix is doctored up a bit with an extra egg, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. They give the cake the perfect pumpkin flavor throughout, without any of the hassle that normally can come from making an entire homemade cake. (Though of course you can make my homemade pumpkin cake if you want everything in this cake to be from scratch! Just leave off the cream cheese frosting as called for, and use the one in this recipe instead)
You’ll mix everything for the cake up at once, just like you would with a cake mix. Then when the cake is done baking, it’s removed from the oven and poked all over with holes. The top is drizzled all over with the caramel, so that it with seep down into the cake to give it that amazing caramel flavor and to make it extra moist throughout.
After the cake cools completely, its all topped with a cream cheese topping, spread it all over the top smoothly, then cover the cake in more caramel and Heath Candy Bar bits to add the perfect extra caramel flavor and give it a nice crunch on top.
This Pumpkin Poke cake is the perfect cake for this time of year! It’s loved by all and even those who don’t usually call themselves pumpkin lovers!
Helpful Tips to make Pumpkin Poke Cake:
- Poke Cakes are best when eaten the next day, make this cake the night before you want to serve it, then it will be better the next day whenever you’re ready to slice right in.
- For the best cake, use room temperature eggs. This helps the batter to come together smoothly, and helps so the cake doesn’t rise or fall too much in the middle.
Looking for more pumpkin recipes?
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Cobbler
- Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Ice Cream
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Pumpkin Poke Cake
For the Pumpkin Cake:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 eggs
- 15 oz pumpkin puree ((not pumpkin pie filling))
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the Caramel Filling:
- 12 oz caramel syrup
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
For the Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy cream
For the Topping:
- 1 cup chopped Heath bits
- caramel topping
For the Pumpkin Cake:
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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Mix together the cake mix, sugar, oil, water, eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Stir for 2 minutes until the batter is smooth.
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Pour the batter into a greased 9×13 pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (approx. according to package directions) until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
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Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes.
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Poke the cake all over the top with the bottom of a wooden spoon.
For the Caramel Topping:
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Combine the caramel topping, and condensed milk in a medium sized bowl.
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Pour the caramel sauce all over the top of the cake to fill all the holes with the caramel. Spread the caramel around with a rubber spatula.
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Place the cake in the fridge to cool for 1 to 2 hours.
For the Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
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Beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer) for about 1 minute until smooth.
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Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and stir in.
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In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks are formed.
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Fold together the cream cheese and whipped cream carefully, until smooth.
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Spread the whipped ream cheese frosting over the top of the cake.
For the Topping:
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Drizzle caramel sauce over the cream cheese frosting, and sprinkle evenly with Heath Bits.
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Cover the cake and place in the fridge to chill for another 2 hours, up to overnight. Then slice and serve.
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