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Whole Boston cream poke cake with chocolate frosting in a glass baking dish

Boston Cream Poke Cake

Yellow sheet cake filled with vanilla pudding and finished with chocolate frosting. Made with cake mix, instant pudding, and a ready-to-spread topping in a 9x13-inch pan.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling and chilling 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 pieces

Equipment

  • 9×13-inch baking dish
  • Mixing bowl and whisk
  • Wooden spoon with a rounded handle
  • Flexible spatula
  • Microwave-safe bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 1 box yellow cake mix Choose a mix with directions for a 9x13-inch pan.
  • Ingredients required by the cake mix Use the eggs, oil, water, or other additions listed on your package.
  • 2 small boxes vanilla instant pudding mix Standard four-serving size, commonly 3.4 ounces each.
  • 4 cups cold milk For the pudding filling.
  • 1 container chocolate frosting Ready-to-spread.

Instructions
 

  • Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Heat the oven to 350°F, unless the cake-mix package gives a different temperature for your pan.
  • Prepare the yellow cake batter with the ingredients and directions on its package. Pour into the prepared dish and spread evenly. Bake for the package’s recommended time, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter. The 30-minute cook time is an estimate.
    Yellow cake batter spread evenly in a clear glass rectangular baking dish
  • Leave the cake in the baking dish and let it cool completely before filling. Allow about 1 hour for planning; the time can vary.
    Unfrosted golden yellow sheet cake cooled in a glass baking dish
  • Use the rounded handle of a wooden spoon to make holes roughly 1 inch apart across the cooled cake. Press well into the sponge without pushing against the bottom of the dish. Make the holes before whisking the pudding.
    Round holes spaced across a cooled yellow cake for pudding filling
  • Whisk the two small boxes of vanilla instant pudding mix with 4 cups of cold milk, following the package’s mixing directions. Let it begin to thicken, but use it while it is still pourable rather than waiting until it fully sets.
    Smooth pale vanilla pudding in a mixing bowl with a whisk resting inside
  • Spoon the pudding over the cake, gently guiding it into the holes. Spread the remainder across the surface. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until the pudding is set and the cake is thoroughly chilled.
    Vanilla pudding spread across the top of the poked yellow cake
  • Transfer the chocolate frosting to a microwave-safe bowl. Warm for 15 seconds and stir, repeating in short 15-second bursts only until it spreads easily. It should not be hot. Gently spread over the chilled pudding with light spatula strokes.
    Chocolate frosting partly spread over the chilled vanilla pudding layer
  • Cut into 12 pieces, wiping the knife between cuts. Lift each square with a spatula. Serve chilled, or refrigerate briefly after frosting if you want the topping a little firmer.
    Square of yellow poke cake with vanilla pudding pockets and chocolate frosting on an ivory plate

Notes

Package directions: Use the cake mix’s required additions, oven temperature for your pan, and baking time. The milk listed here is for the pudding.
Pudding: Use two small, standard four-serving boxes of instant vanilla pudding with the 4 cups of milk. Make the holes first and fill the cake while the pudding is still pourable.
Planning time: The time fields estimate 25 minutes of active preparation, 30 minutes of baking, 1 hour of cooling, and at least 3 hours of chilling. Actual cooling, baking, and setting times vary.