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This Banana Pudding Poke Cake is made with a moist vanilla cake, homemade banana pudding, whipped cream and plenty of sliced bananas and vanilla wafers! Totally delicious and so addicting!
This post is sponsored by Challenge Dairy, but all opinions are my own.
It has really started getting warm here finally. I’ve been waiting for it to happen so that we can start getting out more with the boys. We’ve been taking them on walks as often as we can to try and get outside and get them used to moving around and doing things.
Of course the weather is now getting more humid, which makes it even hotter and a little tougher to get out in the middle of the day, but it is such a nice time of year. Since we can’t go places as easily, having people over is where it’s at for us. I have a feeling laid back, easy cook outs will be our style for the summer. We can’t come to you, but you can come to us. We have food! Ha!
And who doesn’t love a good cookout? Good food, good company and hopefully a good dessert. This Banana Pudding Poke Cake would actually be perfect for a cookout! The flavor screams summer and is perfect for sharing. Plus, it’s a refrigerated cake, so it’s nice and cool for a hot day!
To get started with the cake, you’ll want to bake the moist vanilla cake that is the base. It’s a delicious butter-based cake that uses the creaming method. It’s a favorite of mine. It’s of course made with Challenge Butter, a company that you may have noticed I’ve worked with for some time now. Their butter is made from the freshest milk and cream and goes from the farm to the fridge in just two days! Plus, they don’t use hormones or additives, which is great. And now it’s available nationally, so you should be able to find it in your local store – yay!
Next up is the banana pudding. I debated with myself how to go about this pudding for a while. I do not at all discriminate against instant pudding – I grew up on it. However, there’s just something about the homemade stuff that is to die for! I ended up making homemade banana pudding for this cake and it was the best decision! AMAZING! That said, if you need a shortcut, the instant stuff would work.
To make the pudding, you’ll cook it over the stove. Sugar, cornstarch and milk are combined and heated until warm, then added to the egg yolks to temper them. The whole mixture is then slowly heated until boiling, then it boils for about 10 minutes. The combination of the yolks, cornstarch and cooking process thickens the pudding nicely. Once it’s thickened, add in some butter and vanilla and banana extract. Remember that the pudding thickens as it cools, so it doesn’t need to be super thick when it’s done on the stove.
Once the cake is baked, you’ll poke some nice sized holes all over it and pour the pudding over the top. Spread it around and let it soak into the holes. You’ll still have some that sits on the top too, which is just right.
Refrigerate the cake and pudding and let it all thicken. Once its ready, add sliced bananas on top of the pudding and top it with whipped cream and broken up vanilla wafers. Refrigerate the cake until your ready to serve it, then dig in!
This cake is SO GOOD! The moist vanilla cake, fresh homemade banana pudding and whipped cream are all amazing together. A friend and I might just have taken forks and gone to town on this baby! It’s just that good!
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Banana Pudding Poke Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 12-15 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Banana Pudding Poke Cake is made with a moist vanilla cake, homemade banana pudding, whipped cream and plenty of sliced bananas and vanilla wafers!
Ingredients
VANILLA CAKE
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted Challenge Butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (310g) sugar
- 3/4 cup (173g) sour cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 6 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
BANANA PUDDING
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 cups (720ml) milk
- 3 tbsp (42g) salted Challenge Butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp banana extract
WHIPPED CREAM AND TOPPING
- 2 cups (480ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1 cup (115g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Banana slices (2 1/2 bananas)
- Crushed vanilla wafers (about 20)
Instructions
1. Prepare a 9×13 pan with baking spray. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
3. Add sour cream and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
4. Add egg whites in two batches, mixing until well combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
5. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then combine the milk and water in a small measuring cup.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until well combined. Add the milk mixture and mix until well combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 28-30 minutes.
8. While the cake bakes, make the banana pudding. Add the egg yolks to a medium bowl, whisk together and set aside.
9. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch, then add the milk. Cook over medium heat until it gets warm, about 5 minutes.
10. Add some of the milk mixture to the egg yolks and whisk together to temper the eggs. Add the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
11. Continue cooking the milk mixture over medium heat and slowly bring to a bowl, about 10 minutes.
12. Allow the mixture to boil for 5 minutes, stirring continuously, then remove from the heat and add the butter and extracts.
13. When the cake comes out of the oven, use the end of a wooden spoon or something similar to poke good sized holes all over the cake.
14. Pour to pudding over the cake and allow it to settle into the holes. You’ll have some pudding settle on top of the cake as well.
15. Place the cake into the fridge to cool and firm, 2-3 hours.
16. When the cake has cooled, make the whipped cream. Add the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
17. Place sliced bananas in an even layer over the top of the cake and pudding.
18. Spread the whipped cream evenly over the bananas, then top of the cake with the crushed vanilla wafers.
19. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Cake is best served cool, but not cold. Cake will last well covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 603
- Sugar: 47.6 g
- Sodium: 168.6 mg
- Fat: 30.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 70.6 g
- Protein: 12.9 g
- Cholesterol: 128.9 mg
Enjoy!
Do you think I could ship this overnight without sacrificing anything? It’s being shipped with gel packs and the temps here are in the 20’s-30’s.
Gosh, I really don’t know anything about shipping cakes. I’m sorry.
please how can I use powder sour cream for this recipe,?
sour cream is very scarce in my country.
I’ve never heard of powered sour cream, I’m sorry.
I made this twice. The first time i followed the recipe to a T. The cake was extremely dense and had no flavor, even after adding banana extract prior to baking it.
The second cake i made, which I’m eating as i write this post, i made using a yellow boxed cake mix (yes i know, i cheated), added banana extract and its absolutely wonderful!! The banana flavor really shines and its extremely moist and delicious!!
I’m so glad I read this comment. I planned to bite the buillet and not use a box mix but this lets me off the hook!
This poke cake sounds like the perfect flavor combination fro summer. I’m a sucker for anything banana. I love that the pudding is homemade!
Thanks Hannah! I’m a sucker for banana too!
Did you ever not like the flavor of something, but wish you did? That’s how I felt when I saw this Banana Pudding Poke Cake! I really do not like bananas, but I’ll need to make it for family that does. It looks like you also “decorated” with more sliced bananas and I was wondering what keeps them from darkening. I also worry about the ones that are under the whipped cream. I’ve always been challenged at keeping an open banana from loosing its quality and remember trying plastic wrap and those strange banana keepers when the kids only took a bite. Maybe you won’t have that problem with 2 kids taking 2 bites! Also, do you have any thoughts for other flavors?
Yes! I wish I loved olives and I just don’t. So sad!
The bananas under the whipped cream don’t have too much of an issue, since they aren’t directly exposed. The ones on top were more for decoration in the photos, but you are right that they’d brown fairly quickly. If you wanted to add them to the top, you’d probably want to do so right before serving. I hope your family enjoys it!
As for other flavors, I have quite a few poke cakes on the site that you could check out.