Coconut Cream Poke Cake

It’s no secret that I love coconut!  Coconut Cream Cupcakes are just about the most heavenly treasure of my life.  I know many of you enjoy them as well! I have had a lot of requests lately to make a Coconut Cream Cake version. So as to cut down a little on time. And I get that, I really do. Time is a valuable thing.  Sometimes there is precious little of it to spend in the kitchen (whether you enjoy cooking or not, time is rushing by at a frantic pace it seems). So today, I have adapted the original Coconut Cream CUPcake recipe and have a Coconut Cream POKE CAKE recipe to share with you all.

This cake is light, moist and covered in creamy coconut pudding. Cool whip and toasted coconut are layered on top of the cake to make it extra fabulous. It makes a wonderful summer dessert. (Or a smashing good Winter Dessert, Spring Dessert, I Can’t Live Without Dessert, Someone Please Send Help Immediately All I Can Think About Is Dessert…

Sorry.

Sometimes sugar can do weird things to a girl.

Hope you love the cake!

Let me show you how to make it happen!

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grab a white cake mix and dump the contents into your stand mixer or medium sized mixing bowl.

3. Add 1 box Coconut Cream instant pudding and 1/3 cup of flour. Toss it all around to combine.

4. Add 1 1/2 cups water, 1 teaspoon coconut extract, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup oil and 1/3 cup sour cream. Blend the ingredients together on low speed for 1 minute. Scrap the bottom of the bowl and then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes…

or until the batter is nice and glossy.

5. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and pour the batter in. Pop it into the oven and let the old girl bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

7. Spread 2 cups coconut out on a large cookies sheet…

like this.

Pop it into the oven and let the coconut get all toasted and wonderful. Should take about 10 minutes and you will want to stir it a couple of times while it toasts. Be careful when you open the oven. Coconut lets off a really potent fume that can burn your eyes. It’s best to open the oven cautiously without looking directly into the oven. Let the fumes escape from the oven for a few seconds and then you should be fine.

9. When your cake has cooled for about 10 minutes, poke a bunch of holes in it with the end of a wooden spoon.

10. Into your stand mixer pour 4  cups of milk (I used 1%) and 2 boxes Coconut Cream pudding. With the whisk attachment whip the pudding for about 10 minutes, or until it thickens up nicely for you.

11. Pour the pudding over the top of the cake. It’s ok if the cake is still a little bit warm.

12. Spread it all out with a knife.

13. Grab some Cool Whip

and carefully scoop it onto the pudding.

Spread it out evenly with a knife.

14. Sprinkle the cooled, toasted coconut over the top. Pop the pan into the fridge and let it set and chill for at least an hour (and up to 24 hours) before you serve.

Enjoy!

Pinterest friendly image below…