Lemon Poke Cake

I have quite a few cake mix based recipes on the blog. My Lemon Dump Cake, Strawberry Crunch Cake, Brownie Cake, Strawberry Brownies and Peach Cobbler with Cake Mix are all quick, easy and delicious cake mix based recipes. I am so excited to add this lemon poke cake to my growing collection of cake mix recipes. I know you’ll love it because: 

• It has the perfect contrast of taste and texture.  This easy lemon poke has layers of textures filled with tangy lemon flavor. The lemon cake is fluffy and moist. While lemon pudding is creamy which pairs perfectly with the light cool whip topping. 
• Easy to make with simple ingredients.  This lemon pudding cake is made with pantry basics such as lemon cake mix, eggs, water, oil, lemon pudding mix, milk and cool whip. What I love most about this poke cake recipe is that the entire cake can be made using two bowls and a whisk.

This lemon poke cake with lemon jello requires only a handful of ingredients to make and is as simple as mixing the ingredients in a bowl, pouring the batter into a cake pan, baking it, layering and chilling it.

Lemon Cake Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, eggs, water and oil. 

Lemon Pudding Ingredients: Gather lemon pudding mix, milk, cool whip and a lemon for topping.

This pudding poke cake is meant to be quick, easy and so delicious. Here are my recommended substitutions for this recipe if you need them:

• Box Lemon Cake Mix: I prefer using lemon cake mix for the extra lemon flavor, but feel free to use any box cake mix such as vanilla yellow or white cake mix. 
• Oil: I like to bake with canola oil. However, any neutral baking oil will work well in this poke cake recipe. Other possible substitutes would be an equal amount of yogurt, coconut oil or applesauce. 
• Eggs: This recipe hasn’t been tested without eggs. 
• Water: Use any type of milk you like. 
• Lemon Pudding Mix: For this lemon poke cake, I used jello lemon pudding mix to get the most lemon flavor. Vanilla would work well, too. You could also try other flavors that pair with lemon such as strawberry or coconut cream. 
• Milk:  Use any type of milk you like. You can also use water for more of a glaze like consistency. If you choose water, I recommend using it for the glaze only (use 1 ½ cups luke warm water and a 3.4 oz. pudding mix for the glaze layer). To have a pudding layer, you will still need to use milk (1 ½ cups milk and a 3.4 oz. lemon pudding mix) . 
• Cool Whip: I typically prefer making my own whipped cream, but for this dessert, I found that cool whip was more stable and held together for days whereas homemade whipped cream did not. 
• Lemons: Lemon slices and lemon zest are optional topping, but do provide a beautiful contrast to the cool whip. Feel free to top the lemon poke cake in any way you like.

• Vanilla Cookies and Cream: Prepare the recipe as written, but rather than use lemon pudding mix, use vanilla instant pudding mix. Fold 15 crushed vanilla Oreo cookies or Nilla Wafers into the cool whip topping. Top with more crushed cookies instead of lemons. 
• Cream Cheese Frosting Layer: Rather than topping the lemon poke cake with cool whip, top this lemon cake with cream cheese frosting. Prepare the lemon cake and lemon pudding layers as written in the recipe. Chill until the pudding layer is well set. This takes about 1-2 hours. Top the cake with a cream cheese frosting. 
• Lemon Frosting: Add more lemon flavor to the cool whip by mixing 8 oz. cool whip with a can of store bought lemon frosting. Layer on top of the lemon pudding cake as written in the recipe. 
• Lemon Curd: Replace the entire lemon pudding layer with lemon pie filling or lemon curd. This lemon poke cake recipe uses about 3 cups of lemon pudding. Due to the sweetness of the lemon pie filling or lemon curd, you can use a bit less. I suggest 2- 2 ½ cups or 16-20 oz.

This easy lemon pudding poke cake ready to bake in as little as 10 minutes. Here’s how to make this easy cake in a few steps.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Lightly grease and line the bottom and long sides of a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, water and lemon cake mix until well combined. 
2. Pour the lemon cake into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 21-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool the cake in the cake pan for 15-20 minutes. Using the parchment paper, gently lift the cake out of the pan to continue cooling on a cooling rack.  Once the cake has cooled for 1 hour or is no longer warm to the touch, poke holes in the cake using the bottom of a thick skewer or wooden spoon. 
3. Make the lemon pudding by whisking the boxes of lemon pudding mix with the milk until thicken, smooth and well combined.

4. Spread about ½ of the lemon pudding across the cake, making sure to push the pudding into the holes. If you want to ensure the pudding makes it down into the poked holes, spoon or pipe the pudding into the holes. Then spread the remaining half of the pudding across the cake. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours and up to overnight. 
5. When you are ready to serve the cake, top the lemon poke cake with cool whip, lemon slices and lemon zest. Slice, serve the cake and enjoy!

• Store this lemon poke cake with pudding in an airtight container at in the fridge for up to 5 days. 
• Freeze the poke cake: Prepare the cake entirely according to the recipe directions. Wrap the entire cake, while still in the pan, in 2 layers of plastic wrap and then a foil layer. Store the lemon pudding cake in the freezer for up to 2 months.
• Thaw the lemon cake at room temperature for a few hours or in the fridge overnight. 
• Serve this easy lemon poke cake with scoop of vanilla ice cream, lemon curd or as is!

• Lemon Dump Cake
• Lemon Loaf
• Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
• Lemon Lavender Cookie Bars
• Lemonade Bundt Cake
• Lemon Pancakes

If you try this Lemon Poke Cake recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking!