A Red Velvet Poke Cake recipe made simple by baking a soft moist cake from a mix, infusing it with a thick sweet white chocolate filling, and topping it with a favorite cream cheese frosting!
Easy Christmas Poke Cake
Poke cakes are one of my favorite desserts, especially when I’m looking for something quick and easy. There are so many varieties you can make, from the flavor of the cake to the delicious fillings to the frosting on top. This Strawberry Poke Cake and this Oreo Poke Cake are two more of my family’s favorite poke cakes!
This red velvet poke cake looks impressive and tastes amazing, but it truly couldn’t be easier to make! It’s a delicious cake for holidays, Valentine’s day (with different sprinkle colors) or any family gathering when need to whip up a festive dessert.
This red velvet cake is made with a boxed cake mix and turns out so moist and decadent you’d never know it wasn’t made completely from scratch. It’s infused with a white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk mixture that’s soaked into the cake and topped with cream cheese frosting, which as we all know, is the best frosting for anything red velvet!
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Ingredients You’ll Need
The complete list of ingredients with amounts are listed in the full recipe card below.
- Red velvet cake mix – Use any brand you’d like.
- Water, eggs & vegetable oil – Will be used to combine with the dry cake mix. Follow directions on the box you buy.
- Sweetened condensed milk – Readily available in your local grocery stores. Typically comes in a can and it’s milk that has had all of the water content removed from it creating a condensed milk.
- White chocolate chips – Will be melted and mixed in with the sweetened condensed milk.
- Cream cheese frosting – Make our easy 4 ingredient cream cheese frosting or store bought both work. Substitute a whipped cream or a whipped topping like Cool Whip in place of the cream cheese frosting.
- Colored sprinkles – Think red, green, and white for the holidays! or
Variations To Try
- Substitute instant vanilla pudding, white chocolate pudding, French vanilla pudding, cheesecake pudding mix instead of the white chocolate chip/condensed milk mixture. Combine milk and the dry pudding mix and pour pudding mixture over top of the cake immediately.
- For an adult version, add some bourbon or Bailey’s to the filling, whether it’s the white chocolate mixture or any of the puddings.
How to Make this Recipe
If you’re a beginner baker or someone who enjoys eating cake but doesn’t necessarily want to make one from scratch, this recipe is for you!
Step 1: Make cake batter according to directions on the box you buy. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove and cool the cake slightly.
Step 2: Melt white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds. Stir and heat for 15-second intervals two more times, stirring to melt each time. Be very careful not to overheat the chips or they can seize and become too thick. The bowl will usually be warm enough to continue to melt them as you stir them.
Step 3: Once melted, stir in the condensed milk until completely smooth in consistency.
Step 4: Poke holes throughout the cake using the back of a wooden spoon. Be careful not to poke to the bottom of the pan.
Step 5: Pour white chocolate mixture over the middle of the cake and spread evenly across the top evenly so each hole gets ample filling.
Step 6: Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes before spreading the cream cheese frosting over the entire cake. Return to the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Add sprinkles to the top of the cake just before slicing and enjoy!
Tips
- Add shaved white chocolate curls, crushed Oreo cookies, crushed candy cane, or mini chocolate chips to the top if desired. (If adding any cookie crumbs, be sure to add them just before serving or they will get soggy sitting on the frosting).
How To Store
There is dairy in the cream cheese frosting as well as the condensed milk filling, so any leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days
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Red Velvet Poke Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Baking Pan
Ingredients
- 1 box Red Velvet Cake box mix
- 1 ½ cup Water
- 3 large Eggs
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup white chocolate chips melted
- 2 cups cream cheese frosting canned or homemade
- ¼ cup Colored sprinkles Christmas or Valentine's, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 13×9 pan
- Mix ingredients for the red velvet cake mix (according to package directions)1 box Red Velvet Cake box mix, 1 ½ cup Water, 3 large Eggs, ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool completely
- Add white chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 50% power level for 30 seconds. Then stir and heat for an additional 15 seconds then stir until completely melted. Microwave for an another 15 seconds if necessary but do not heat for more than 1 minute total or it may burn.1 cup white chocolate chips
- After chocolate chips have melted, stir in the condensed milk until completely smooth.14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- Once the cake was cooled, poke holes all over the cake using the handle of a wooden spoon.
- Pour the white chocolate mixture over the entire cake and spread it gently into all of the holes.
- Place the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
- After the cake has chilled, spread the cream cream cheese frosting over the entire cake.2 cups cream cheese frosting
- Place the frosted cake back in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Just before serving, add seasonal colored sprinkles.¼ cup Colored sprinkles
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclosure
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.
Jamie
Love this recipe!
Sherri
That makes me so happy to hear!
Laura
I followed the directions exactly and the white chips seized when I added the condensed milk. I tried it a second time, thinking maybe I needed to add the condensed milk slower, but the chocolate still seized. I see someone else had the same issue. Might need to be more specific with how to add the condensed milk, ie should it be heated too? Now I have a cake with holes in it and no clue what to do about it other than find a better recipe to substitute. $4 for a bag of chips and $5 for 2 cans of condensed milk right down the drain. Plus, whatever I have to purchase to fill in with a different recipe.
Laura Stegall
I melted the chocolate chips as directed and combined with the sweetened condensed milk. I knew immediately I had a problem because it was too thick to stir and started to take on a consistency more like cookie dough. So I put it back in the microwave. Didn’t help. I added a little oil and nuked it again. No deal. I went ahead and put it on the cake. I cannot say “poured” it on the cake because there was no pouring. It’s sitting on top of the cake like frosting. It has a skin-like consistency/texture – it will NOT melt or thin out. Never again!
Sherri
That’s usually an indication that it got too hot in the microwave. So sorry that happened!
I found this information to try and fix seized chocolate “To fix seized chocolate, add 3 tablespoons of warm water for every 6 ounces (1 cup) of chocolate chips. This may seem counterintuitive since drops of water were what caused the problem in the first place.
But it does work. Make sure the water is warm and you add the right amount.
Heat in the microwave on medium heat (50% power level) for 15-second intervals. Between each interval, whisk with a wire whip. Wire whips work better than spatulas in restoring seized chocolate.
Marilyn Vogel
What size instant pudding?
Sherri
It’s the 3 oz box 🙂