Pumpkin Poke Cake
This easy homemade Pumpkin Poke Cake is a moist, autumn dessert with a caramel sauce filling and whipped cream frosting. The best part? This pumpkin snack cake is made from scratch without cake mix! Baked in an 8×8 pan, the pumpkin lover in you won’t be able to resist.
Pumpkin, pumpkin everything. Are you tired of pumpkin yet?
I hope you said no because we’re just getting started in November.
Pumpkin cheesecake, mini pumpkin bread, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, even pumpkin mac and cheese for dinner.
I can’t help it though. I’m one of *those* people that once coffee shops start selling pumpkin spice lattes, all bets are off.
And when you have a warming cup of coffee, you’ll need a slice of this Pumpkin Poke Cake to go with it.
It’s an 8×8 pumpkin snack cake filled with caramel sauce then topped with an airy whipped cream frosting. Then I added toffee bits and mini chocolate chips for a bit of crunch.
This recipe for pumpkin poke cake is very easy to make as it’s a one layer cake you serve directly from the pan.
That means you don’t need to invert the pan or worry about applying a crumb layer. Just frost the top and cut!
It also makes a tasty Thanksgiving dessert for when you’re not in the mood for small pumpkin pie.
And if you’re traveling to someone else’s home for the holidays, you can easily transport the whole pan with you.
What is a poke cake?
Poke cakes get their name from poking holes into the cake (literally) then pouring some sort of filling into the holes.
Normally poke cakes are filled with sweetened condensed milk, but I opted for homemade caramel sauce to make a pumpkin caramel poke cake.
When I was researching different recipes for pumpkin poke cake, I realized they all had one thing in common – they started with cake mix.
Why wasn’t there a pumpkin cake made from scratch? Why did the recipe *have* to use cake mix?
This put me on a mission to make my pumpkin spice poke cake from scratch for others like me who would prefer to start with flour and sugar rather than a mix.
Ingredients For Pumpkin Poke Cake
Here are the ingredients you need for your pumpkin snack cake with caramel sauce:
- All-Purpose Flour: Used to add structure to your cake. No cake flour required.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger: Collectively known as pumpkin spice
- Baking powder and soda: Leavening agents to make your cake rises. Make sure it’s fresh and not expired.
- Salt: Used so your cake isn’t bland.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the cake.
- Brown sugar: Adds an extra note of caramel to the batter
- Vegetable oil: Makes the cake moist and tender
- Egg: Provides structure and richness
- Canned pumpkin puree: Make sure it’s plain canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling
- Vanilla: Brings out the other flavors, much like salt does
- Milk: Use whole milk and not 2% or skim. You’ll need that fat for a moist pumpkin cake.
- Caramel sauce: The filling added after poking the cake with holes
How To Make Pumpkin Poke Cake
Ready to make your pumpkin poke cake recipe?
- Mix together flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat both sugars and oil together until smooth.
- Add egg, pumpkin, and vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk.
- Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes.
- Poke holes into cake then pour caramel sauce over top of cake.
- Frost once completely cooled.
Refrigerate leftover poke cake for up to 5 days. Bring it to room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
How To Frost Pumpkin Poke Cake
Because this pumpkin snack cake is a bit on the sweet side with the caramel, I knew I wanted to balance it with a not-so-sweet frosting.
That’s why I opted for homemade whipped cream which acts as a frosting on top.
You can also add more flavor using maple whipped cream or cream cheese whipped cream.
If you still want a more traditional frosting, you can use cream cheese frosting, traditional buttercream frosting, or cinnamon buttercream.
More Snack Cake Recipes
If you enjoyed your pumpkin caramel poke cake, you’ll also enjoy these other snack cakes:
Pumpkin Poke Cake
This easy homemade Pumpkin Poke Cake is a moist, autumn dessert with a caramel sauce filling and whipped cream frosting. The best part? This pumpkin snack cake is made from scratch without cake mix! Baked in an 8×8 pan, the pumpkin lover in you won’t be able to resist.
Ingredients
- 1 + 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce (homemade or store bought)
Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1/2 cup heavy whipped cream, cold
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup toffee bits
- 1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8x8 square pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, clove, and salt.
- In another large mixing bowl on medium-high speed (with paddle attachment if using stand mixer), beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil until smooth.
- Scrape down the bowl then beat in the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla until smooth.
- Turn the speed down to low then add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, adding the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions (begin and end with dry ingredients).
- Transfer the batter to the pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes.
- While the cake is still warm, poke roughly 16 holes into the cake (4 rows of 4 holes each) with the bottom of a long and round handle of a wooden spoon or similar object. Pour the sauce into each hole. Let the cake cool completely.
- For the frosting: In a large mixing bowl (with whisk attachment if using a stand mixer), beat the heavy cream until thickened. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla then continue beating until stiff peaks form (when you pull the beater up, peaks will form and not fall over). Spread on top of the cooled cake then garnish with toffee bits and chocolate chips.
Refrigerate leftover cake for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Instead of using the individual spices, you can add 2 teaspoons premade pumpkin spice mix.
- You can also decorate the cake with maple whipped cream, cream cheese whipped cream, cream cheese frosting, or cinnamon buttercream.
- Looking for more pumpkin recipes? Check out Mini Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Muffins, and Pumpkin Cheesecake.
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This looks divine! I love this twist on poke cake. They are always so moist and delicious. Yay for pumpkin all the things!
That pumpkin spice filling that gets poured over the cake sounds amazing. This is one beautiful fall dessert. Pinned.
So, if it’s served straight from the pan, can I just pull the pan toward me and go in with a fork? Because I totally want to. Really pretty, Carla. Pinned.
I only just started baking with pumpkin so I am not tired of it yet! Love this festive poke cake. I have not made a sheet cake or a poke cake in years.
I will leave off the mini chocolate chips as I don’t like chocolate with pumpkin or other spicy stuff. Where do you think the syrup might be available?
I believe right now, Amoretti syrup is only available online via Amazon. Not sure what their plans are for in stores. I can ask.
I wish my kids like pumpkin more, If I made this cake, I would HAVE to eat it all by myself :) but it would be worth it
Yowza! This is lovely! I’m so glad you made a from scratch version of poke cake. It looks fantastic!
This looks amazing! I didn’t know it was possible to get tired of pumpkin. At least not for me. Love that this is cake from scratch and in an 8X8″ pan. It helps me to keep from eating too much. Thank you for sharing!
Well, since I am pumpkin baking inept, I know I should send my readers over here to get their fix! I’ve actually never tried a poke cake, but it sounds really fun. Any excuse to douse a cake in that glorious Amoretti syrup! Also, nice napkin ;)
Would you believe I’ve never had poke cake? Probably because it’s always made with a boxed mix but I love your version, especially with that syrup on top!
I love the Amoretti syrups! Using it in a poke cake is such a smart idea and I love the flavors in this one.