If you are looking for a fun new Easter dessert to try this spring, this easy Carrot Cake Poke Cake recipe is the best treat that you can make for your family. Filled with white chocolate pudding and topped with cream cheese frosting, this super moist carrot cake is over the top delicious!
A Carrot Cake Poke Cake Easter Dessert
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is classic Easter dessert. But you can make a fun twist this year and turn it into amazing, perfectly moist, homemade poke cake filled with white chocolate pudding.
Almost every recipe I found on the internet uses box cake mix and caned cream cheese frosting for poke cakes. They all sounds super simple to make, but I prefer real homemade cakes from scratch, with this magic custard cake as one of my favorites to make (and taste!). Especially when it comes to a holidays and family gatherings such as Easter dinner or brunch.
Although I baked dozens of cakes with many different flavors, I do not have too much experience with carrot cakes. To tell the truth, I’m not a huge fun of carrots so I refused to try any kind of carrot treats for years. I always imagined that carrot tastes much in the cake and it seems yuck to me.
What I fool I was! One day I decided to try carrot cake and realized that I been missing a lot. Baked goods with carrots actually taste so good. You can’t even tell there’s carrot in it.
A Twist on a Classic Carrot Cake Recipe
However, when I tried first recipe, my Carrot Cake Banana Bread, I couldn’t stop myself. I made Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling, Carrot Cake Cheesecake, Carrot Cake Cupcakes and even Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies. In fact I made so many versions of carrot cakes, but never a classic one.
Looking for perfect base for my poke cake that doesn’t include a box cake mix I found this Crazy Good Carrot Cake from Happy Hooligans. It seems extremely moist and delicious. That was my starting point for this Carrot Cake Poke Cake. I made some changes, replace some of white sugar with brown sugar, spiced it up with ginger, nutmeg and cloves, besides cinnamon, and stir in some chopped walnuts. I was afraid that I might mess things up with my add-ins, but it turned out great.
Finally this Carrot Cake Poke Cake with white chocolate pudding and cream cheese frosting is really easy recipe and so simple to make. When you try this super moist and flavorful homemade carrot cake you’ll never buy a box cake mix again.
Easy Easter Dessert Recipes
Old Fashioned Banana Cream Pie
Carrot Cake Poke Cake
Prep Time: 30 minutes- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 16 slices 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
If you are looking for a fun new Easter dessert to try this spring, this easy Carrot Cake Poke Cake recipe is the best treat that you can make for your family. Filled with white chocolate pudding and topped with cream cheese frosting, this super moist carrot cake is over the top delicious!
Ingredients
For Carrot Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups freshly grated carrots
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Filling:
- 2 x 3.4 oz. box white chocolate instant pudding mix
- 4 cups milk
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 6 oz. cream cheese- softened
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter-softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar (plus 2–3 tablespoons more if needed)
- Dash of salt
Instructions
- To make the cake preheat the oven to 350 F and grease 9 x 13 glass dish.
- In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, set aside.
- In a large bowl combine oil, eggs, vanilla, sugar and brown sugar. Mix just to combine.
- Add flour mixture and mix just to combine.
- Fold in grated carrots and pecans or walnuts.
- Spread the cake batter into prepared dish and bake 40-50 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake for 10 minutes and using the handle of a wooden spoon poke the holes all over the cake less than 1 inch apart.
- Meanwhile whisk together instant pudding mix and 4 cups of milk until no lumps remain. Pour the pudding over the cake trying to get as much you can to get the pudding down into the holes. Smooth the top and place the cake in the fridge until the pudding has set and the cake is cooled completely.
- To make the frosting beat the butter, cream cheese, vanilla and dash of salt until smooth and creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and set back in the fridge for 30-45 minutes before serving.
- Store the cake in the fridge up to 5 days.
25 comments
This looks so yummy!
Had a hard time getting the pudding down into the holes. Hopefully it will taste good 🙂
Use a piping bag to poke the pudding down in the cake!
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I recently made a new recipe for carrot cake and part of the carrot we’re cooked for a few minutes then put in blender before adding, made for a different smoother texture but very delicious!! Your poke cake sounds delicious! Pinning!
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I am going to make this carrot cake poke cake. I an mot a fan of carrit cake, but I think I will like this poke cake!!
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[…] Recipe: Carrot Cake Poke Cake – omgchocolatedesserts.com […]
Making this now for easter. Can’t wait to try it!! I forgot to pick up more vegetable oil so I swapped that for half coconut oil and half mashed bananas. Hopefully it turns out just as good! Sure smells good!
This cake was amazing! I made it for Easter and it was a huge hit. I received so many compliments.
Made this carrotcake for Easter it was awesome ,so moist and not real sweet,definitely I will save this recipe
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Absolutely delicious! I used Cheesecake pudding and everyone raved about this recipe! As an experienced baker I thought a “poke” cake wasn’t fancy enough. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Thank you!
This makes an amazing cake. I’ve made it twice now and neither time has the “poke” part worked for me – the pudding is too thick. I’ll just skip that part from now on as it’s a waste of pudding … Still yummy without.
Can this be baked in the 1 time use portable cake pans?
Just purchased the ingredients to make this I’m very excited to see how it turns out. Saw some notes stating had to get the pudding down in the pokes you may won’t to thin out your pudding a tad it won’t change the flavor and will sink down in much easier kinda like your jello poke cakes.
The cake was delicious, but the pudding got too thick and sat on top . Needless to say I didn’t use the cream cheese frosting. Not a big deal, everyone enjoyed it. Will definitely make again.
Yum! Missed having carrot cake on Easter so I made one today instead! Skipped the pudding and did a salted caramel sauce by Smuckers instead, used 8oz cream cheese & a little less sugar in the icing. Cake turned out awesome – so moist! Boyfriend is taking with coffee for breakfast this week. Thanks for the recipe, Vera!
Couldn’t you use a piping bag to get the pudding into the holes? Just wondering as am a new baker.
A Turkey baster works well for getting the holes full of pudding.. not expensive either 💟☮
Looks so good I’m going to make anyway to make it with less calories