Homemade Coconut Cream Poke Cake

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 12

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Homemade vanilla cake filled with homemade coconut cream pudding, topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut — the cake for coconut lovers! Make it from scratch or use cake mix or pudding mix to make it quick and easy!

piece of coconut cream poke cake on white and gold saucer with another piece behind

I love me some toasted coconut. I have a small (BIG) obsession with this ice cream stand called The Velvet Dip here in the summer and they have a toasted coconut cone dip that is out of this world. Toasting coconut brings out this amazing sweetness unlike anything else. Mmm.

I  found this amazing white cake recipe a few weeks ago on Add a Pinch and it changed my life. I have nothing against cake mix when you’re in a pinch, but, man, nothing compares to homemade vanilla cake. This cake is not dry and crumbly like cake mixes tend to be, but super moist.

Ever since I found this recipe I’ve been wanting to make a poke cake completely from scratch. Who doesn’t love pudding poke cakes? Moist cake and moist pudding topped with fluffy whipped cream? Sign me up. And I’ve often made them using cake mix and pudding mix, as many poke cake recipes call for, but this cake recipe got me wondering….. How amazing could a poke cake be if you were to make a scratch cake and slather it with vanilla coconut homemade pudding? And then top it with whipped cream and toasted coconut? Let me tell you. Outstanding.

square piece of coconut cream poke cake topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut

I am a huge coconut lover, but if you don’t like coconut you could leave it out and stick with vanilla, add some other extracts or fresh berries on top.

*Recipe and photos updated from the original. 

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Homemade Coconut Cream Poke Cake

5 from 1 vote
This Homemade Coconut Cream Poke Cake is dense, moist and loaded with coconut flavour!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Cuisine American
Course Dessert
Servings 12
Calories 433cal

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 tsp vanilla

Pudding:

  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3 tsp corn starch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp coconut extract

Assembly:

  • Whipped cream
  • Toasted coconut

Instructions

  • Cake:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick spray.
  • In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in applesauce and eggs. Mix in buttermilk and vanilla.
  • Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until combined. Turn mixer to high for 5 seconds to make sure ingredients are incorporated.
  • Pour into prepared pan and bake for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the pudding.
  • Pudding:In a large pot, combine milk, egg, sugar, corn starch, and salt with a whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened (so that it coats the back of a spoon like a thin pudding — will thicken slightly as it cools). Stir in extracts.
  • Assembly:Using a wooden spoon, poke holes 1″ apart in the slightly cooled cake. Pour warm pudding over.
  • Let set in the fridge until cold, at least 2-3 hours.
  • Top with whipped cream and toasted coconut.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 433cal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 269mg | Potassium: 214mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 570IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 1.7mg

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Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!

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Comments

  1. Dorothy Dunton says

    Hi Stacey! Had to come back and tell you a story. We have a very good friend who I gave some of this cake to and today he brought me coconut milk – his way of asking for more! He brings me bananas and pecans when he wants banana bread and ground beef when he wants goulash! He claims he doesn’t eat butter, real mayonnaise or bacon, but he sure does when I cook! He just turned 80 and looks and acts about 60!

  2. Thao @ In Good Flavor says

    I’m a coconut girl all the way. No leaving it out. In fact, the more the better. This cake looks absolutely delicious!

  3. Cyndi - My Kitchen Craze says

    Look at you making the whole thing from scratch! Your awesome! Even the pudding. This sounds fabulous and I need to make it asap! I love a good vanilla cake recipe too and I think homemade is best. I love how easy yours looks too. Not to complicated. Making and Pinning!!

  4. Dorothy Dunton says

    Hi Ashley! I picked up coconut extract yesterday and it gave me an idea. I bought canned coconut milk and am going to sub that for the milk in your recipe. I figured more coconut couldn’t hurt! I’ll let you know the outcome.

      • Dorothy Dunton says

        Hi Ashley! Today was baking day! First I made Challah bread, using the dough cycle of my new bread machine(my old one “died” the other day) and then on to your cake. OMG it turned out fabulous! I used coconut milk in the cake and pudding and I added a half cup of shredded coconut to the cake. I also didn’t frost it with whipped cream – I sprinkled about two cups (yeah, I’m a coconut junkie) of toasted coconut onto the pudding layer. I’m calling it Coconut overload cake! If that’s alright with you… 🙂 I’m thinking tapioca pudding made with coconut milk and toasted coconut would be pretty darn good! Thank you so much!

      • Ashley Fehr says

        That sounds amazing! Love your Coconut Overload Cake! And I love the dough cycle on the bread machine — mine died and I still haven’t gotten a new one 🙁

  5. Dorothy Dunton says

    Hi Ashley! I am a huge fan of coconut! I like that you chose to make the cake and pudding from scratch – I like my cakes dense and moist. I came up with my own recipe for carrot cake because none of the recipes had everything I wanted (namely pineapple, pecans and coconut). It’s the cake I make myself every year for my birthday and the frosting is covered in toasted coconut.

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