If you’re looking for a show-stopping dessert, this Boston Cream Poke Cake is always a good choice! Everyone will be raving over the delicious combination of yellow cake, vanilla pudding custard, and chocolate glaze.
Plan to take this one-pan dessert to your next gathering! It’ll certainly be a crowd favorite, just like the ever delicious Chocolate Lasagna.
Why This is One of Our Favorite Desserts
When I was a young child I was enamored with any and all desserts containing custard. I was particularly captivated by Boston Cream Pie because it wasn’t a pie at all, it was a custard filled cake. And that layer of glorious, shiny chocolate—yum!
Related: My all-time favorite chocolate cake!
I learned to bake at a young age, but mastering egg-based sweets like custard and Creamy Flan wouldn’t come until I was older. If only I had known about this Boston Cream Poke Cake, I could have eaten it anytime the fancy struck! It’s seriously that simple to cook with boxed cake mix and instant pudding.
While I am now an avid baker, I’m not above using boxed mixes and hacks. If they make life easier and taste just as yummy, I’m all for it. My cute Lemon Sandwich Cookies start with a cake mix and they fly off the plate every time.
If you have one component that’s completely from scratch, it gives the whole thing a homemade flavor (the cookies have cream cheese frosting).
With that in mind, I decided to make the chocolate glaze from scratch since I’m a bit of a chocoholic. You could certainly use canned chocolate frosting, chocolate buttercream frosting or chocolate fudge frosting if you want, but the chocolate ganache is simple enough that it doesn’t take much more than melting a few ingredients together.
Ingredients you’ll need for this cake
- You’ll use a box of yellow cake mix, but you also need the ingredients on the back of the box.
- Be sure you use instant vanilla pudding mix, not the cook and serve kind!
- You will need milk and vanilla extract to mix up the pudding.
- To make the ganache, you will need semi sweet chocolate chips, heavy cream, and a small amount of corn syrup. It’s a very small amount of corn syrup, but if it bothers you, use an equal amount of butter.
ONE-PAN DESSERTS COOKBOOK!
The one-pan dessert is ideal for all occasions including potlucks, holidays, barbecues and birthdays. Several of these desserts do not require baking making them perfect for summer. See ALL my cookbooks here!
20 delicious one-pan dessert recipes plus tips for dessert success! ONLY $9.97!!
Helpful Kitchen Items:
How to Make this Amazing Cake
The rest of the Boston cream poke cake is equally quick and easy. Bake a cake according to the package instructions, then poke holes in it.
Mix up some pudding and pour it over the cake before it starts to thicken.
If you do this before the pudding has completely set, the custard can drip all the way down into the pockets.
After chilling, it all gets topped with that chocolate glaze and then sets up in the fridge. Don’t forget to let your glaze cool for 10 minutes before pouring it over the cake!
This Boston cream poke cake definitely tastes better if you let it sit overnight. I’m an impatient person, so I usually can’t wait to dig in before something is done but trust me, the flavors come together in an amazing way. Cake, pudding, and chocolate glaze magically transform into Boston Cream Pie!
More One Pan Desserts
Don’t you LOVE one-pan desserts? Always perfect for BBQ’s, potlucks, or any gathering in general. Find more favorites below!
- Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad
- Eclair Cake
- Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake
- Pineapple Dream Dessert
- Strawberry Icebox Cake
- No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake
- Lemon Lush
- Cookie Skillet
- Pistachio Cake
- Pineapple Poke Cake
And of course, you wouldn’t want to miss my Boston Cream Cupcakes!
Boston Cream Poke Cake
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Pin It Rate ItIngredients
- 16.25 ounce yellow cake mix plus ingredients to prepare
- 6.8 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix 2 (3.4oz) boxes
- 4 cups milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 1/4 cups
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup or butter if you prefer
- 1 cup heavy cream
Things You’ll Need
Before You Begin
- You’ll use a box of yellow cake mix, but you also need the ingredients on the back of the box.
- Be sure you use instant vanilla pudding mix, not the cook and serve kind!
- The ganache calls for a small amount of corn syrup. It’s a very small amount, but if it bothers you, use an equal amount of butter.
Instructions
- Prepare and bake the cake in a 13×9 pan according to the package instructions. Let cool completely before poking holes across the cake with the bottom of a wooden spoon. Be sure to poke all the way to the bottom of the pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together pudding, milk, and vanilla, but don't let it thicken. Pour the thin pudding over cake in an even layer, poking down into the holes if necessary.
- Refrigerate the cake for one hour.
Chocolate Glaze
- Place the chocolate chips and corn syrup in a heat-proof bowl.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the cream until it simmers, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can microwave the cream until hot.
- Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and let sit for 2 minutes to melt.
- Stir until smooth. Let the glaze cool for 10 minutes. Letting the glaze cool is an important step, don't skip this part!
- Pour glaze over cake and smooth with a spatula. Chill cake for 4 hours or overnight before serving.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on May 12, 2017 but has since been updated to include helpful tips and new photos.
Amanda Davis
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Audrey says
Looks delicious! Boston Cream is one of my favorite desserts. I can hardly wait to try this recipe! I’ll repost after making.
Debbie says
Turned out great! I made it for our sons birthday. He loves this! It’s one of his favorite kind of donuts so it was a big hit to make this cake! Thank you for the recipe!
Jenny says
Definitely should’ve read the comments before doing this cake. It was tasty, HOWEVER, like many others the chocolate never set, it’s like I had a cake with melted chocolate ice cream all of the top… very messy and looks horrible… will be searching for a different recipe :/
Janie says
Can’t give any stars yet since I haven’t made it. It looks very tasty. Will be making it soon. Using some of the good ideas from comment’s, I’m sure it will be great. Thanks for the recipe.
Mickie says
My best friend and I put this cake together for her sisters birthday. I was a little uneasy after reading reviews but was pleasantly surprised when I opened the fridge this morning and saw one of the most beautiful cakes we’ve ever made. The Chocolate Ganoche was set up beautifully! Can’t wait to see how it tastes this evening! 😋
Debbie L says
Delicious!!! My family loved it. It’s definitely a keeper!
Catherine says
It was a big hit for my Mother’s Birthday! I will make it again for Father’s Day!
Kate says
How far in advance can I make this dessert? Will 4 days be too long?
Amanda Formaro says
3 days is really a good limit.
Kate says
P*ssed that I chose this recipe because it was rated 5 stars and basically wasted a cake because I had all the same problems everyone in the comments did. If I had only read the comments first I would have saved myself a lot of trouble. Worst cake recipe I’ve ever tried.
Peter Nelson says
Tasty – but the ganache never set, was runny and really ruined what I hoped would be a nice dessert. I’m going to try it again with less cream.
Jeanie Girvan says
As I don’t like to us cake mixes what do you sugest
Amanda Formaro says
I have a yellow cake recipe here https://amandascookin.com/my-birthday-cake-dedicated-to-the-memory-of-my-mother/
Marclyn says
Looking for help. Every time I make this, I have the same problems, and I’m not sure where I’m going wrong. I can never seem to get the ganache to “harden”. Even after refrigerating, it’s always a little too soft. The other problem is… the inside (after I’ve poured the pudding and refrigerated the cake) always seems to be mushy (I guess that’s what you would call it). Everyone loves it, so flavor isn’t the problem, I just want my end product to be a little less mush and runny chocolate and more firm. Any suggestions anyone has on what I could change would to achieve a sturdier end product would be greatly appreciated.
Carol Ciccone says
Had the same problem, so I researched “Basic Ganache” which states equal quantities of warm cream & chocolate, so I used 1 cup of each, leaving out the corn syrup (or butter) and the additional 1/3 cup chocolate chips and the mushiness was gone.
Donna kelly says
Looks amazing..mine is sitting in the fridge..My cake rose a lot so it didn’t have a lot of room for the chocolate but I’m sure it’s perfect.. I was able to use most of it but it is brim to the top of the pan. Lol ..I’m hoping the chocolate sets up a bit in the fridge. It looked great like a Granoche. Excited to have this for dessert tonight. Thank you for the recipe.
Debra Nunn says
This recipe was easy and fantastic. My family loved it.
Debra Wojtkowski says
I didn’t Polk enough holes in my cake and the pudding didn’t sink in, my bad. Work very quickly with the instant pudding it sets yo p fast.
Lori says
Overall it was good. The chocolate glaze didn’t set up like the picture and wasn’t that chocolate looking. I would try changing that next time.
Lenora says
I took a can of milk chocolate frosting and microwave it it a few minutes and it worked
Susan Ponder says
Love this recipe. Such a crowd pleaser.
Isabel says
Good idea, but very misleading “1 hour” time frame. A cake takes 30-40 minutes to cook, then it has to cool, then it’s refrigerated for an hour with the pudding, and another FOUR HOURS with the chocolate. Disappointed with final appearance of the chocolate too.
Wanda says
Some people complain about everything. If it didn’t look good you did something wrong.
Donna kelly says
The 4 hours is not part of prep or work…it took me an hour to make this cake, now it’s in my fridge waiting for dessert.
Lori says
These recipes look delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Lisa says
I loved this recipe. Easy to make and want to make more of them.