This moist chocolate caramel poke cake is a chocolate lover's dream come true! Using the BEST chocolate cake recipe as the starting point, this sheet cake is poked and filled with rich and creamy caramel sauce and topped with caramel swirled buttercream frosting. As the cake sits, the sauce soaks into it - making it even MORE moist and giving it a beautiful caramelly flavor in each bite.
what makes this chocolate caramel poke cake so good?
- easy to whip up each component
- unbelievably moist
- caramel flavor in EVERY bite!
- no boxed cake mix - this is 100% homemade, right down to the caramel sauce!
what is poke cake?
Poke cake is exactly what it sounds like: a poked cake! There are a million and one flavors out there, but they all follow the same idea: bake a cake, poke holes along the top of the cake, pour over a filling and allow it to seep into the holes, frost and enjoy!
Depending on the filling you use, it will either soak into the cake and flavor it or (with firmer fillings) it will kind of stay suspended in the holes when you slice the cake! You can see what a firmer filling looks like in my hot chocolate poke cake recipe!
This version of poke cake is chocolate and caramel flavored. The caramel sauce will soak into the cake as it sits and makes for an amazingly soft and moist piece of cake with tat caramelized flavor from the filling!
how to make chocolate caramel poke cake
Make the caramel sauce:
1. Get your ingredients ready. Caramel sauce comes together very quickly, and you won't have time between steps to measure out ingredients.
2. Cook sugar and water until browned. Keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't burn!
3. Add butter and mix until melted.
4. Add heavy cream and salt. Cook until boiling, then boil for an additional 1 minute.
5. Whisk in vanilla, then pour the caramel into a heat safe bowl. Set aside to cool completely to room temperature.
You can see a more detailed post on how to make caramel sauce here. But that's really all there is to it!
Make the easy chocolate cake:
1. Whisk together dry ingredients to combine.
2. Add wet ingredients (minus the hot coffee) and whisk to combine. The batter will be a bit thick.
3. Whisk in hot coffee. The batter will be SUPER thin after you add the coffee - that's what you want!
4. Pour the cake batter into your baking pan and bake!
5. Set aside to cool completely to room temperature.
Make the caramel swirl frosting:
1. Cream together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Whip until you no longer see any dry brown sugar crystals and the mixture has lightened in color.
2. Mix in powdered sugar until dissolved. Whip until light and fluffy.
3. Add in the remaining frosting ingredients and whip until smooth and spreadable. If needed, you can mix in more milk if the frosting is too thick.
Fill and frost!
1. Poke holes all along the top of your cooled cake. If you plan on serving this cake in the pan, you can fill and decorate it directly in the pan. If you want to serve the cake on a separate serving board, pull it out of the pan before filling and decorating - otherwise it can be a real challenge trying to move it around afterwards!
2. Pour the cooled caramel sauce over the poked cake. It's best to work relatively slowly and push the caramel into the holes using a spoon or spatula to make sure it evenly distributes. Reserve a bit of caramel sauce for decorating on top!
3. Frost & swirl remaining caramel sauce on top! Slice and enjoy!
how to poke holes in poke cake
There are 2 popular choices for poking the holes in your cake: you can either use a straw (for smaller holes) or the back of a wooden spoon (for larger holes). The final slice of cake will end up the same, it just depends on what you have readily available to use! Any similarly shaped utensils would also work.
When you do poke the holes, make sure to space them out by about ½ an inch for the best distribution, and don't poke holes more than about ⅔ of the way down the cake. If the hole pierces down to the bottom of the cake, the caramel sauce may leak out!
FAQs
Can I use store-bought caramel sauce?
Yes! Just make sure the label says caramel SAUCE and NOT caramel SYRUP. Made that mistake before lol. Syrup is looser and sweeter than caramel sauce.
Why add hot coffee to chocolate cake?
The coffee helps make the cake taste extra chocolaty (without giving off any sort of coffee flavor!) Using boiling hot coffee helps bloom the cocoa powder in the cake batter (again, bringing out the extra chocolate flavor) and dissolve any clumps so you have a velvety soft final cake!
Can I leave out the hot coffee in the cake?
Yes! Just use boiling water instead.
Will the brown sugar make the frosting grainy?
Surprisingly: no! But do make sure to cream the brown sugar and butter very well to get rid of that gritty texture.
storage
Poke cake softens quite quickly, so I find it's best stored in the fridge to get the best possible shelf life out of it. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and it should keep for about 5 days. If you find it's gotten too cold for your liking, set the cake out at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving to allow it to warm up.
check out these other recipes!
• Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
• MOIST Chocolate Carrot Cake
• Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cake
• Super Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.
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Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake Recipe
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 (9x13 inch) cake
Description
This moist chocolate caramel poke cake is a chocolate lover's dream come true! Using the BEST chocolate cake recipe as the starting point, this sheet cake is poked and filled with rich and creamy caramel sauce and topped with caramel swirled buttercream frosting. As the cake sits, the sauce soaks into it - making it even MORE moist and giving it a beautiful caramelly flavor in each bite.
Ingredients
For the homemade caramel sauce:
- ⅓ cup (80mL) water
- 1 & ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick / 115g) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized slices
- ¾ cup (180mL) heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the chocolate cake:
- 2 & ½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
- 1 & ¾ cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 1 & ¼ cups (100g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 & ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 & ¼ cups (300mL) milk
- ⅔ cup (160mL) vegetable oil, or any other neutral flavored oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240mL) hot black coffee (*see notes)
For the caramel swirl buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 225g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar, light or dark
- 4 cups (520g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the homemade caramel sauce:
- Measure out all of your caramel ingredients before starting! It comes together very quickly, so getting everything ready beforehand helps prevent having the caramel burn. You'll also need a medium sized heavy bottom saucepot with high sides, a long handled wooden spoon, and a heat safe bowl.
- In your saucepot, combine water and sugar. Set the pot over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until the sugar turns an amber color. It will initially look cloudy and start to boil, then the bubbles will settle down slightly and it will start to brown. If needed, you can gently swirl the pan to ensure even browning.
- Working quickly (but carefully!) before the sugar burns, add your butter and mix with a long handled wooden spoon until melted. The mixture will sizzle and double in volume before settling down.
- Pour in your heavy cream and mix. Continue mixing and cooking the caramel sauce over medium heat until smooth and velvety. The sugar may clump when you first add the heavy cream, but just keep mixing and cooking and it should melt back into a smooth sauce.
- Once smooth, take the sauce off the heat and whisk in the salt and vanilla.
- Pour the caramel sauce into a heat safe bowl and set aside to cool uncovered until it reaches room temperature.
Make the chocolate cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan, and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine.
- Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Whisk together to combine. The batter will be very thick at this point.
- Pour the hot coffee over your batter, and quickly whisk it in to combine. Take care not to overmix. The batter will be very loose, almost watery!
- Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Tap the pan on your counter 2 or 3 times to level it out and release any air bubbles.
- Bake the cake in the center of your preheated 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake completely to room temperature before filling and frosting.
Make the caramel frosting:
- In a large bowl, combine unsalted butter and brown sugar. Using an electric mixer fitted with the beater attachment, whip together on medium high speed until well combined and lightened in color (about 2 minutes).
- Add powdered sugar and salt. Mix together on low speed until the powdered sugar is dissolved. Turn the mixer speed up to medium-high and whip together for another 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add 3 tablespoons of milk and vanilla. Whip together until combined. If the frosting is too thick, gradually mix in more milk (one tablespoon at a time) until it reaches the right frosting consistency.
Fill and decorate!
- You can serve this cake directly out of the pan or on a wire rack / serving board. If you'd rather serve this cake out of the pan, flip it onto your wire rack or serving board before filling and decorating for sake of ease. I like to just lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the cake and then place an inverted wire rack on top. Then flip the cake onto the parchment lined wire rack. This is a SOFT cake - so I wouldn't skip the parchment paper!
- Using the back of a wooden spoon or a straw, poke holes into the top of the cake, leaving about ½ an inch distance between each hole. Take care not to poke the holes all the way down through the bottom of the cake or else the filling will leak - about ⅔ of the way down is best.
- Slowly drizzle the cooled caramel over the cake and into the poked holes (reserving about ⅓ cup of caramel for topping).
- Spread your buttercream frosting on top, then drizzle the remaining ⅓ cup of caramel sauce on top. Lightly swirl the sauce and frosting together.
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
* The coffee helps bring out the chocolate flavor, but it won't make the cake taste like coffee at all. You can use any strongly brewed coffee or simply dissolve 2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder in boiling water to make some. If you'd prefer to skip the coffee, an equal amount of boiling water works as well!
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Cake
Enjoy!
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