With hot cocoa mix in the cake, a homemade marshmallow filling, and a creamy whipped hot chocolate inspired frosting, this hot chocolate poke cake has all the classic flavors of a cup of cocoa! It may look fancy, but it's seriously so easy to make - and all the components are made 100% from scratch.
what makes this hot chocolate poke cake so good?
- No cake mix. No store-bought marshmallow filling. All 100% from scratch!
- hot chocolate mix in the cake
- moist and spongy chocolate cake that's still sturdy enough to hold the filling
- easy homemade marshmallow creme filling
- hot chocolate flavored whipped cream on top
- easy to make, but fancy looking!
no hot chocolate mix?
You can make your own at home! To make your own hot chocolate mix at home, you'll need:
- ½ cup (40g) instant milk powder
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Whisk to combine and work out any large clumps, and you're all set! This will make slightly more than the amount you'll need for the cake below. You can use any extra to brew up some hot chocolate or make mini melting hot cocoa cups!
I know milk powder isn't the most common household ingredients, so if you don't have that on hand either, then you will need to either get some or get store-bought hot chocolate mix. This cake just isn't the same without it!
how to make hot chocolate poke cake
Make the hot chocolate cake:
1. Whisk together dry ingredients.
2. Whisk in wet ingredients (minus the boiling water). The batter will be quite thick at this point!
3. Whisk in boiling water. The secret to an extra moist and fudgy chocolate cake!
4. Pour into cake pan & bake. The cake will develop a beautiful crackly top that almost looks like a brownie!
5. Cool cake COMPLETELY before filling and frosting.
Make the marshmallow filling:
1. Combine egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar.
2. Cook mixture over a bain-marie, whisking constantly, until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Whip to soft peaks. I highly recommend using an electric mixer for this - it needs about 5 minutes of whipping on high speed, which is just a nightmare to try to recreate by hand!! It's ok if the mixture is still warm when you start whipping it.
Fill and frost the cake:
1. Poke holes into your cooled hot chocolate cake. I like to use the back of a wooden spoon to just press holes all throughout the surface of the cake. You can also use a straw - the holes will just be a bit smaller. Whichever method you choose, just make sure you don't press down more than about ⅔ of the way down so your filling doesn't seep down to the bottom.
2. Fill the holes with your marshmallow filling. Spread any leftover filling overtop of the cake.
3. Whip together frosting ingredients until they reach stiff peaks.
4. Spread chocolate frosting on top of the cake. I like to leave about a 1 inch boarder around so you can see the marshmallow filling peaking out! You can spread the frosting all the way to the edges if you prefer.
5. Decorate with some chocolate shavings and enjoy! It can be kind of messy to slice into when the cake is first frosted, but it's definitely doable! If you want extra neat and clean slices, chill the cake for 30 to 60 minutes or until easy to slice.
how to fill poke cake
If you have a runnier filling, you can usually just pour the filling over your poked cake and it should easily seep into the cracks. Because this filling is a bit thicker, I like to fill the poked holes using a piping bag filled with the marshmallow mixture. It make it much easier and fills each poke to perfection!
how to make chocolate curls for the cake top
If you want to decorate the top of your cake, you can very easily make some chocolate curls with a chocolate bar and a vegetable peeler! Simply run the peeler along the side of your bar of chocolate (kind of how you would if you were actually peeling a vegetable) and you'll get some pretty little curls!
If you find the curls shaving off of the chocolate bar are really small and fine, it probably means the chocolate bar is too dry. Here's a little trick I like to use to get more dramatic looking curls:
- turn one of your stove burners on high heat
- hold the side of your chocolate bar over the burner (about 7 inches away from the heat) for about 2 to 5 seconds or until the side looks glossy. It shouldn't melt! It should just look shiny and slightly darker in color
- Run your vegetable peeler over the slightly soft edge and it should give you the perfect curl!
If you want to skip the chocolate curls, you can leave the top of the cake plain, or decorate with some chocolate chips and/or mini marshmallows!
storage
Keep your cake covered with a cover or plastic wrap, and store in the fridge. This cake will keep for about 5 days in the fridge. Because this cake contains cream, it shouldn't be stored at room temperature.
check out these other recipes!
• Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
• Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cake
• Chocolate Ombré Cheesecake
• MOIST Chocolate Carrot Cake
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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Hot Chocolate Poke Cake Recipe
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 (9 inch) round cake
Description
With hot cocoa mix in the cake, a homemade marshmallow filling, and a creamy whipped hot chocolate inspired frosting, this hot chocolate poke cake has all the classic flavors of a cup of cocoa! It may look fancy, but it's seriously so easy to make - and all the components are made 100% from scratch.
Ingredients
For the hot chocolate cake:
- 1 & ¼ cups (150g) all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
- ⅔ cup (84g) hot chocolate mix
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 & ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup (60g) plain yogurt
- ¼ cup (60mL) whole milk
- ⅓ cup (80mL) vegetable oil, or any neutral flavored oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (180mL) boiling water
For the marshmallow filling:
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the chocolate whipped topping:
- ¾ cup (180mL) cold heavy cream
- ¼ cup (32g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- chocolate shavings (optional - for topping)
Instructions
Make the hot chocolate cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a parchment paper round. Lightly dust the sides of the pan with flour or cocoa powder, and tap out any excess. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, hot chocolate mix, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together.
- Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients, and add in eggs, yogurt, milk, oil, and vanilla. Whisk the center to break up the eggs then gradually whisk outwards to mix in the dry ingredients until you no longer see any streaks. You'll have a very thick batter at this point.
- Pour in your boiling water, and immediately whisk to combine. Take care not to over mix - the batter will be very watery!
- Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan. Lightly bang the pan on your counter 2 or 3 times to get out any air bubbles.
- Bake the cake in the center of your preheated 350°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Take the cake out of the oven. Cool the cake completely to room temperature in the pan before filling and frosting.
Make the marshmallow filling:
- Fill a medium sized saucepot with about 1 inch of water and heat until it's steamy, but not boiling. Keep your burner set to medium-low heat to maintain a very gentle simmer.
- Pick out a large heat-safe bowl that can fit comfortably over your pot of simmering water without the bottom of the bowl touching the surface of the water. In this bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar.
- Set the bowl over your pot of simmering water. Cook the egg white mixture, whisking constantly, for about 5 to 8 minutes, or until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture becomes opaque. If you test it with a thermometer, the temperature of the eggs whites should read at least 160°F.
- Take the bowl off the pot of simmering water and add vanilla to the cooked egg white mixture. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites until it becomes thick, glossy, and holds a soft peak. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes on high speed. I wouldn't recommend trying to do this by hand!
- Pull the cooled cake out of the cake pan and peel off the parchment bottom. Place the cake onto your serving platter. Use the back of a wooden spoon or a straw to poke holes all throughout the top of the cake, leaving about ½ an inch distance between each hole. Take care not to poke the holes all the way to the bottom of the cake - about ⅔ of the way down is the perfect depth.
- Fill Your marshmallow frosting into a large piping bag and snip the tip off. Use it to fill each poked hole in the cake with marshmallow filling. If you have any marshmallow frosting leftover, spread it on top of the cake.
Make the chocolate whipped cream topping:
- Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla in a large bowl. You can use the same bowl you used to whip the egg mixture in as long as it's no longer warm - no need to wash it!
- Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream ingredients together until it's thickened and holds stiff peaks.
- Spread the chocolate whipped cream over your filled cake. I like to leave a little border around the edges so you can see the marshmallow layer peaking out, but feel free to decorate the top however you like!
- Decorate with some shaved chocolate on top. If you want to skip the shaved chocolate, you can serve the cake plain or with some mini marshmallows / chocolate chips on top!
- You can slice the cake right away, but it'll be a little messy, or chill for 30 to 60 minutes to get cleaner slices!
Equipment
Buy Now → - Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Bake Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Cakes
Enjoy!
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