This Chocolate Poke Cake is out of this world. SO chocolatey! So moist! Amazing. I dare you to try and keep your fork out of it.
Poke cakes have quickly become one of my favorite things to make when I’m looking for an easy but delicious cake. I love a beautiful layered cake, but sometimes easy ones are the way to go. And since poke cakes are defined by the holes that are poked into it and filled with flavor, there are so many possibilities.
It occurred to me that I didn’t have a single chocolate poke cake on the blog and that seemed criminal. Chocolate is a necessity in all things, so I went full out – chocolate all the way. In every bite.
I started with a devils food cake. I used a cake mix, but if you have a from scratch recipe you prefer, go for it. Sometimes boxes are a wonderful convenience. You could also use a regular chocolate mix, but the devils food makes this oh-so-chocolatey and I fully recommend it.
Once the cake is baked, poke holes all over it. I actually have a steel knife sharpening rod that I use to poke my holes, but you could also use the end of a wooden spoon, or something similar.
Believe it or not, I’ve never actually sharpened a knife with that rod. It’s only been used as a device for poking holes in cake. Seems appropriate for me, no? 🙂
Instead of just pouring plain sweetened condensed milk over the cake (because that would be boring, right?) I basically poured chocolate ganache over it. I melted the chocolate with the sweetened condensed milk, instead of the usual heavy whipping cream and used that. It’s amazing. So not boring and so good.
To top the cake off, I made chocolate whipped cream, the covered the cake with mini chocolate chips and chocolate sauce. Just in case there wasn’t enough chocolate already. I mean, can you even have too much chocolate? I don’t think it’s possible.
And in the case of this cake, it’s perfection. So much chocolate, but so balanced and delicious. Totally to die for.
You are welcome.
You might also like:
Red Wine Chocolate Poke Cake
Raspberry Chambord Chocolate Poke Cake
Chocolate Turtle Poke Cake
Kahlua Chocolate Poke Cake
Triple Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Chocolate Poke Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 15-18 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This decadent Chocolate Poke Cake is out of this world. It’s insanely chocolatey and so moist! I dare you to try and keep your fork out of it.
Ingredients
CHOCOLATE CAKE
- 15.25 oz box Devils Food Chocolate Cake Mix, plus ingredients listed on box
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- mini chocolate chips
- chocolate sauce (I used Smucker’s Chocolate Sundae Syrup)
Instructions
Keywords: moist chocolate cake recipe, moist chocolate cake, best chocolate cake, best chocolate cake recipe, chocolate poke cake, poke cake recipe
Enjoy!
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This cake is absolutely AMAZING. and I’m not a cake person. Wow. Will be making this again!
★★★★★
Made this for my daughters birthday and it turned out delicious. My 2 grandchildren asked for seconds. Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
I made this for a recent going away party of 3 coworkers. Since I’m the “dessert” person, they asked for chocolate. I searched for the most “chocolatey” (if that’s a word!) recipe I could find. And this was IT!!! All I can say is OMG! Everyone loved it! After putting on the whipped topping, I drizzled on chocolate and caramel ice cream topping and instead of the chocolate pieces, I sprinkled crushed toffee bits.
I made this in a 12×17” pan (2batches!) and it turned out delicious! My only take away is that although I kept the dessert in the refrigerator all night before work, by lunchtime when out if the fridge, the topping was super soft & a little runny. It didn’t change the taste of the dessert any, but it was messy. So I’d keep it in the fridge until close to serving time! Definitively recommend for choc-o-holics!!!
★★★★★
Just wondering if one can use Hershey’s syrup in place of the chocolate sauce?
I would probably go with the sauce over a syrup just because I think the syrup is usually fairly thin. But that’s up to you.
Made this cake today for dinner with friends. I read all the raving reviews and was skeptical that it could be THAT GOOD. Buuuuuut I really liked it haha! So did my guests and I found myself wanting to grab seconds like all the kids did! I’m glad I got to take home the 3 extra pieces! Will definitely make again. P.S. my husband RARELY eats dessert and enjoys it. When he saw me writing this review he said “I’m going to go have a second piece of that cake.”!!!!!!
★★★★★
Easy to make, and so yummy. Cut small pieces to serve, as this is an extremely rich dessert. I did not add the chocolate sauce, and mini bits on the top. It didn’t need it.
★★★★★
OMG!!!! Our family had a big spaghetti night and I took this. Even though they were already stuffed from dinner, several went back for seconds on the cake. My sister-in-law, who doesn’t like chocolate, asked for a small bite and then went back for seconds. My little 6-year old nephew told me it was an 11 out of 10. When his mom asked him if this will become his new birthday cake, he nodded.
So glad it was a hit!
If you need a chocolate fix, this is the dessert for you. Oh so good!!!
Hi,
Your cake recipe looks great. I would like to serve it on Sunday so can I make the cake part tomorrow and pour the chocolate and mild combo in the holes tomorrow, refrigerate and then make the whipped topping on Sunday?
Please let me know.
Thanks,
Sandi
You can certainly make this cake a couple days ahead. It’s quite moist.
How would you suggest I melt the chocolate chips with condensed milk if I do not have a microwave?
You could melt them over a pot of boiling water on the stove – like when using a double boiler.
Can you add this to Yummly? I see several of your recipes there, but can’t find this one.
I made this but the last two times made it with the triple chocolate cake mix o my word heavenly
This sounds so easy – I have got to try it!!
★★★★★
Just made this cake for my son’s 21st birthday and it was a big hit! I used Betty Crocker Devil’s food cake mix (in UK) and double cream for the topping. I felt it needed a bit more cocoa and icing sugar whisked in and then it was perfect! Thanks for posting this great recipe!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear it was a hit!
Yes, in response to other comments, the condensed milk and choc chip mix is pretty thick and hardens into a sort of fudge quite quickly. I added more condensed milk and poured the sauce over the cake which had just come out of the oven. Poked it about a bit more to coax it into the holes and it was fine. Thanks Lindsay!
Hi Lindsay!
So i made this cake a couple weeks ago and it was super good! The only thing that i stumbled upon was i am not sure if i melted the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk properly? i poured it over while the cake was still warm and it still created a hardened layer rather than soaking into the holes. Did i not melt the chocolate enough? Did i not poke enough holes? HELP PLEASE!? I am making this cake again within the next week for my mother’s Halloween party and could definitely use some pointers so i can get it perfect this time. Thanks!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I would say that the majority of the chocolate should soak into the cake, but there will be some that’s left on top. That said, I use a knife sharpening rod to make my holes so that they’re fairly big for the chocolate to soak into. I’m not sure what you’re using but perhaps you need bigger holes? You could also add a little bit more liquid, so that the chocolate is thinner.
If I don’t have cocoa anything I can replace it with? I was thinking of just not substituting anything but not sure if it would be good.
★★★★★
It would be difficult to make the chocolate whipped cream without the cocoa powder. Anything else that you add is probably going to thin it out. But you could just have a vanilla whipped cream on top of the cake.
I would like to eat crow and admit that this cake is fabulous. I still maintain that the condensed milk ganache layer does not seep into the cake, but mostly forms a gooey second layer . However, I completely take back my comment that this cake is “not that great.” I have now made this cake twice and it has gotten rave reviews from friends, coworkers, right across the board.
★★★★★
There is nothing great about this cake. My main gripe – the condensed milk and melted chocolate layer does NOT seep into the cake, which would make it super moist and gooey It is way too thick, so it just sits as a second layer between the cake and the whipped cream layer on top.
★★★
I would like to eat crow and admit that this cake is fabulous. I still maintain that the condensed milk ganache layer does not seep into the cake, but mostly forms a gooey second layer . However, I completely take back my comment that this cake is “not that great.” I have now made this cake twice and it has gotten rave reviews from friends, coworkers, right across the board.
★★★★★
So, I googled “cake recipes to try before you die” and this was #1…and I do not regret trying it! Oh my gosh! It was absolutely incredible! Easily the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made…and indeed eaten!
★★★★★
Lol I love that google search and I’m so glad it brought you to my cake! Glad it met expectations!!
This cake has become a game night staple with our friends, who request it every time!! Everything about it is excellent!! If you have pinned this for later, stop what you’re doing and make it immediately!! If you haven’t pinned it yet, pin it and make it immediately!!!
★★★★★
Awesome! I’m so glad it’s such a hit!
I have it in the fridge right now & can’t wait much longer before I go get myself a big piece with some ice cold milk! I’ve always used the handle of a wooden spoon to make the holes in my cake. And there it was sitting right in front of me all this time with the knives…the sharpening thinnga majiggy!! It work’s better than the wooden handle because no cake stuck to it! Thanks! 🙂 The only change I made was to grate some chocolate over the cake instead of using mini chocolate chips. It’s a texture thing for me, I don’t like biting into cold hard chocolate chips! :/ Ok, that’s it…gotta go get me some!
★★★★★
Haha! Awesome! I’m glad the knife sharpener tip was helpful!
I have had this recipe on my pinterest board for 3 years and have made it for MANY family get togethers. It is requested often. Thanks for making a great recipe. Everyone I make it for LOVES it.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake!
I saw this poke cake from you with a slight variation, can you PLEASE ???? ???? print out the recipe for that one, Baileys Chocolate Poke Cake. That way I’ll have the exact amount of the Baileys and how much Hot water to add. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR RECIPES!!!!
Are you just looking to print the recipe? You can do that with the teal colored button within the pink recipe card.
This looks amazing maybe I over looked the question so sorry if it’s a repeat,but can you use chocolate coolwhip and will it taste the same?
Do they make chocolate cool whip now? I’ve never seen it. If they do, you can certainly use it. I don’t think it’d taste exactly the same, but I’m sure it’d be fine.
Thank you I tried it with coolwhip with 2 tablespoons of Hershey chocolate pudding tastes amazing.my in-laws loved it
Hi! I love this recipe so much! Thank you for sharing it. I have done it probably 5 times already or more! 😀 my husband loves it too. I’m actually making one right now, the cake mix is already in the oven but I just realized that I do not have condensed milk!!!! Is it going to be okay if I poke holes now, put it in the fridge and continue it tomorrow? Will it dry? Or not poke holes til tomorrow? I have people coming over tomorrow and I want this to be the same taste when they first had it. Yeah, people request for this cake!!! I would really appreciate your help. Thanks again. God bless you ❤️
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it so much! I would suggest leaving the cake at room temperature and only poke holes when you’re ready to pour the mixture over it, then refrigerate it. 🙂
Being on a diet isn’t easy, and after reading your post… holy cow, so appetizing! (literally salivating at a bite = )
I’m going to bookmark this page, once we move into our new apartment, i’m going to make a batch. gotta replace my old hand mixer.
Love it Lindsay!
This cake is delicious – so moist and so many layers of chocolate goodness. The family gave it a 10/10! It will definitely go into our dessert rotation. Thank you for the great recipe!
How big should the holes in the cake be?
I use a knife sharpener that is sort of like the size of a large straw size. I like a larger hole like that, but some people use smaller holes.
I have made this cake before and it’s delicious! I’m planning to make it again this week but would like to know if the box mix would make enough to split into two 8×8 pans? I want to make one for my friend, and I just have to have one as well!
Does your mix have instructions for baking two 8×8 cakes? If so, I’d think it’d be fine.
Hot damn this was delicious! jUST LOVED IT Made it Sunday and hubby and I are both still thinking about it. Thank You
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, Lindsay, every time I read any recipe in your blog I enjoyed so much because your recipes don’t exist at any place 🙂 thank you so much.
I use banana pudding and frost it with cool whip frosting then add chopped nuts. It is a crowd pleaser.
Can I use yellow cake mix?
Sure, why not?
I love chocolate!
Looking at the cakes is fascinating and i will practice it
Yes. Thanks. Expecting more recipe from you………….