Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake

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Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake is a delicious red velvet cake soaked with a combination of sweetened condensed milk and Nutella, and then topped with Nutella whipped cream!

Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake in a 9x13 pan

Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake

So the other day, the hubs and I were driving home and my car beeped at us to remind us that my one of my tires was still low on air. The beeping had started weeks ago, but we hadn’t done anything about it yet. The hubs found a gas station with an air pump thingy (do those have a word?) and proceeded to fill up the tire.

Here’s the conversation that ensued when he got back in the car:

Hubs: “Man, you’re tire was really low. Like 10 PSI low. That’s a lot.”

Me: “Mmmm, yea, wow.”

Hubs: “Babe, we need to teach you how to fill up your tires so you don’t have to wait for me to do it. That’s really low.”

Me: “I know how to do it. You showed me.”

Hubs: “Then why didn’t you do it?”

Me: “Because I have you.”

Hubs: “But what if you’re in a really tight spot one day and need to be able to do it. You won’t remember.”

Me: “You just put the hose on the thing sticking out of the tire. I got it. Why would I do it when you like to do it for me? It’s a man job. You’re the man. Do you want me to do man jobs and you can do woman jobs?”

Hubs: “Good point. I got it.”

🙂

Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake slice on a plate with a bite on a fork
Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake slice on a plate

Then we got back to the house and the trash and recycling cans were waiting at the end of the driveway for us. We have to put them in the garage before we pull the car in for space reasons. The hubs asked if I’d bring them in. Since it worked so well with the tires, I jokingly said, “I think that’s a man job. It’s like 20 degrees outside.”

He immediately hoped out of the car and moved the bins himself, flexing his muscles the whole time. Then jumped back in the car and said he wanted no excuses from me on my woman jobs. 🙂

We were totally being goofy, but I do love it when I get to stay in the warm car while he does the man jobs. I’ll make dinner any night in exchange. Win for me!

And this Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake is pretty big win too. Like I said, I love poke cakes. And it’s not just me that loves poke cakes – my Cannoli Poke Cake was my most viewed post of 2014! Crazy! I’m also a big fan of my Tiramisu Poke Cake, Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake and Baklava Poke Cake. They are all awesome.

This one is a little different from those though because instead of using a box mix, I made the red velvet cake from scratch. You could substitute with a box though, if you’d rather. Sometimes I just love the ease of a mix, but I do love this red velvet recipe so I used it.

Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake slice on a plate
Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake in a 9x13 pan with a couple squares removed

How to Make Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake

Once the cake is baked, you poke holes all over the cake, hence the name poke cake. I use my knife sharpening rod (which has never sharpened a knife, but is great for this purpose. 🙂 ), but you could use the end of a wooden spoon or something similar. Then pour a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and nutella over the cake. It’s a somewhat thick mixture, but it will slowly sink into the holes.

Once that’s done, it’s time to make the Nutella whipped cream. Sounds like heaven doesn’t it? Well, it is. Nutella is heaven. And I can’t get it off the brain recently. Did you see my No Bake Nutella Pretzel Bars from Friday?

Anywho, to make the whipped cream, you’ll actually start by thinning out some Nutella so that it can be added to whipped cream. Put 3 tbsp of heavy cream into a bowl with 1/2 a cup of nutella. Use a rubber spatula to carefully mix them. It might seem at first like the Nutella is seizing up from the cream, but keep going. It will smooth out and make it easier to add to the whipped cream.

Once you’ve made your whipped cream, you’ll gently fold in the thinned Nutella. You’ll want to make sure the whipped cream has been whipped until stiff, because the Nutella will thin it out a little and you don’t want to whip it again to try and thicken it. It will just deflate. So whip it good the first time.

Spread that glorious whipped cream on your cake and refrigerate the whole thing until you’re ready to devour it. I’d recommend 2-3 hours of refrigeration before serving. Then dig in!

Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake slice on a plate
Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake slice on a plate

You might also enjoy

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake
Red Velvet Berry Trifle
Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
Red Velvet Cookie Sandwiches
Red Velvet Ice Cream Cake
Red Velvet Scones

Print
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Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake on white plate
Recipe

Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 15-20 Slices
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Nutella Red Velvet Poke Cake is a delicious red velvet cake soaked with a combination of sweetened condensed milk and Nutella, and then topped with Nutella whipped cream!


Ingredients

CAKE

  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 oz red food coloring
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tbsp cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup Nutella

NUTELLA WHIPPED CREAM 

  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 2 cups + 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 67 Ferrero Rocher candies, chopped, if desired
  • chocolate sauce, if desired

Instructions

1. Prepare a 9×13 cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together first 6 ingredients (wet ingredients) in a large bowl until combined. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together next 4 ingredients (dry ingredients) until combined.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix on medium high until completely combined.
5. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 30-33 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.
6. After you remove the cake from the oven, poke holes all over the cake. I use a meat sharpening rod, but you could also use the end of a wooden spoon or something similar.
7. In a small bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 cup Nutella. Mixture will be a little thick.
8. Pour mixture over the top of the cake. It will slowly soak into the holes of the cake and leave a little layer on top.
9. In another bowl, use a rubber spatula to carefully mix together 1/2 cup of Nutella and 3 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. It will help to thin out the Nutella so that it’s easier to add to the whipped cream. It might seem like it won’t combine at first, but keep mixing and it’ll smooth out.
10. To make whipped cream, whip 2 cups of heavy whipping cream until it begins to thicken.
11. Add powdered sugar and continue whipping until whipped cream is stiff. You’ll want it to be plenty stiff, because the Nutella will thin it out a bit.
12. Gently fold the thinned Nutella into the whipped cream.
13. Spread whipped cream evenly over the cake, then top with chocolate sauce and crushed candies, if desired. Refrigerate unit already to serve, at least 2-3 hours.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Slice
  • Calories: 538
  • Sugar: 50.9 g
  • Sodium: 133 mg
  • Fat: 29.6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 64.3 g
  • Protein: 6.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 58.3 mg

Filed Under:

Enjoy!

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56 Comments
  1. Marliz Strydom

    This is my go-to blog for birthday cakes. I made this Nutella Red Velvet cake over the weekend and it was a great hit, even with people that don’t like Red Velvet. So easy to put together, and the whipped cream Nutella frosting really complements the richness of the cake. Looking forward to the last piece later today!






  2. Cathy Davidson

    For my birthday, my husband insists on making my cake…He is an electrical engineer and challenged in the kitchen, but with my supervision, he pulled off this incredible cake. It was moist, and delicious! (the only thing he did different was to use a red velvet cake mix and added buttermilk and sour cream to the mix (too much measuring really stresses him!). Loved the nutella whipped cream, which made it seem lighter in taste and it got rave reviews from all our family! Thanks for a great combination!!

  3. Manny

    Lindsay,

    I tryed making this cake and it was DELISH. had a question though, do you poke the holes all the way through? to you fill the holes with the condensed milk first and then pour the rest over the cake? when i poured the condensed milk and put the whipped cream, the whipped cream went through the holes. Thanks for this recipe, other that that it was awsome. Love your page and will be trying to make other recipes.

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I usually poke them pretty much the whole way through. I’m not sure about the whipped cream going into the holes – did it get thick enough while whipping it?

      1. Manny

        I believe it did get thick, i may have just put in on the cake while it was still very warm and it melted it some.

  4. nora

    Hi lindsay,ur poke cake look amazing n would love to make it someday,can i just use condensed milk rather than the sweetened condensed milk?it will be too sweet to use the sweetened one..thks

  5. Mary Carmona

    I am officially a fan of your of Life, Love, and Sugar! I have tried more than a handful of the recipes and every single one has turned out to be a hit.

    I’m not a big fan of Red Velvet myself, but a friend of mine asked if I can make Red Velvet Cupcakes for her daughter’s birthday. Can I use the cake recipe for cupcakes or is there anything I should change up in the ingredients? Sorry, I’m not an actual baker so changing stuff up on my own scares me >_< haha

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Hi Mary! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes! 🙂 You can turn this cake into cupcakes and I actually have that recipe right here. Enjoy!

  6. Shana

    This is the first recipe of yours I have tried…It was great! I will be trying out a lot more of your recipes I am so happy I stumbled upon your instagram page. And I love your blog too. Keep the recipes coming.

  7. milja

    Omg!! That cake looks delicious!! Red velvet cake, condensed milk, AND nutella?! Wow! I can’t wait to try it!
    Also, just speaking my mind here but, I don’t think filling up a tire with gas is “man’s work”. A lot of women own cars these days and it isn’t really the kind of job I’d need to be a man to do. I guess I just don’t like assigning genders to things (unless I’m practicing Spanish though, lol). Just my opinion of course. Thanks for the recipe!!

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Thanks Milja! I hope you get a chance to try it.

      I understand what you’re saying about gender roles and I even thought about that before writing this story. I actually tend to agree with you – both genders can do all things and there shouldn’t be things are specifically for a man or woman. We are all capable. I was really just trying to poke at a little fun at the traditional roles and joke around with my husband to get him to do a job I really didn’t feel like doing. 🙂 I’m sorry if it came across as offensive.

  8. emmie

    hi. can i use evaporated milk when making buttermilk? how many tbsp of vinegar/lemon do i need to add and how many cups of milk to make one?

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      I don’t know enough about using evaporated milk in baking to say for sure if it’d be a good replacement. My guess is that it would change the way it bakes a bit.

      1. emmie

        oh :c but thankyou so much lindsey! 🙂 one last thing. what milk should i use then? can i use fresh milk or something?

      2. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

        Buttermilk would be best, but if you don’t have it, you could use regular milk and add 1 tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice to it and it’ll be kind of a homemade buttermilk.

  9. Jen and Emily @ Layers of Happiness

    You are too funny… I have that same conversation all the time – man jobs are for men!!! But this looks absolutely delish and super duper easy! YUM!! 🙂

Lindsay
About Lindsay

I’m the baker, recipe developer and photographer behind Life, Love and Sugar. I love sharing trusted recipes with helpful tips to give you great results.

Scripture I’m Loving

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29