Banana Pudding Poke Cake

There is always room for dessert when it comes to this amazing banana pudding poke cake. This is the quick and easy cake recipe you will want to show off all the time. 

Ever since falling in love with poke cakes, I’ve been wanting to try all different types whenever I can. Someone in my family had a craving for banana pudding and when we made some, I knew it would make a great poke cake recipe.

I could just imagine the vanilla pudding inside the pokes of the cake, keeping it moist and full of flavor. A smothering of bananas, vanilla wafers, and whipped cream swam through my mind and it was game over for me. 

Banana Pudding Poke Cake Ingredients

There are a few ingredients in this recipe but do not be intimidated about that. They are all simple and basic ingredients most well-stocked kitchens may already have. There are three sections to the cake: pudding, cake, and what you need to assemble. 

For the pudding, you need: 

vanilla, milk, salt, cornstarch, eggs, cream, butter

For the cake you need:

flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk

For the assembly you’ll need:

bananas, cream, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, vanilla wafers

As you can see, many of the ingredients also repeat, so it isn’t as much as you might think just glancing at the recipe! 

What do You Use to Poke Holes in the Cake?

Honestly, you can use just about anything to poke holes in your banana pudding poke cake. I prefer to use the handle end of my wooden spoons. They’re nice and round and the holes are big enough to really take in plenty of filling. 

My biggest tip is to poke a little deeper than you think you need. Most poke cakes barely go down halfway, dig just a tad deeper to get more room for some additional filling. 

If you don’t have any handles that are exactly round, that is fine, no one will judge a cake with oblong holes! 

Do Poke Cakes Need to be Refrigerated?

Typically, yes, your poke cakes will need to be refrigerated. Most poke cakes are filled with things like pudding, other dairy-based fillings, or fruit which definitely need to be refrigerated. If your poke cake is filled with something like caramel, then it is possible that you can skip the refrigeration. My best advice is to follow the recommendations on each particular recipe. 

For this particular banana pudding poke cake, you absolutely must refrigerate your cake because of the pudding and sliced bananas. If desired, however, you may leave your cake at room temperature before eating. 

How Long Does Banana Pudding Poke Cake Last?

This banana pudding poke cake will last up to 3 – 4 days in the refrigerator if kept in an airtight container. 

If left at room temperature, the cake will only last about 8 – 10 hours before the whipped cream will be too degraded to be enjoyable. 

You can freeze this finished cake for up to a month in an airtight container. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. 

Want More Cake?

You need to try my cannoli poke cake. This Boston cream pie poke cake is amazing. If you want just an amazing sheet cake, try my banana sheet cake or my brown butter banana cake with brown butter frosting!