This rich pumpkin poke cake starts with a doctored up cake mix, for a moist cake filled with caramel, topped with the best cream cheese frosting and a crunch topping. It’s a perfect better than sex pumpkin cake, that’s delicious to eat all autumn long.
This pumpkin poke cake is one of the best cakes I’ve ever made! It’s like a better than sex cake with the perfect fall pumpkin twist. The cake is stuffed full of a caramel and sweetened condensed milk mixture. If you love this cake you’ll love our cupcake version – don’t miss these pumpkin better than sex cupcakes!
I’m one of those people who would eat pumpkin all year long, but I’m usually good, and limit myself to eating it, and baking with it during the fall months. I have a few fall favorite pumpkin recipes that you have to try, like my pumpkin muffins and my pumpkin bread recipe.
Ingredients Needed:
This is a quick overview of some of the main ingredients you’ll need for this Pumpkin Poke Cake recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- yellow cake mix – you won’t follow the recipe on the box, but the recipe below instead. You can substitute a white cake mix or spice cake mix as needed.
- pumpkin puree – this is pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling with other ingredients mixed in.
- pumpkin pie spice and ground cinnamon – to give the cake the perfect fall flavors.
- caramel syrup and sweetened condensed milk – to fill the baked cake with delicious gooey caramel goodness
- cream cheese – to give the cake a delicious tangy, and sweet frosting. Because pumpkin and cream cheese are a great combination.
- powdered sugar – to sweeten the frosting.
- heavy whipping cream – to lighten up the cream cheese frosting and make it a little more fluffy
- chopped heath bits – these add the perfect final piece to the homemade pumpkin cake, a delicious crunch on top of the cake.
How to Make a Pumpkin Poke Cake?
This pumpkin cake is so easy to make! It literally starts with a cake mix, that’s how easy it is. The yellow cake mix is doctored up a bit with an extra egg, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, all mixed together in a large bowl.
They give the cake the perfect pumpkin flavor throughout, without any of the hassle that normally can come from making an entire homemade cake. (Though of course you can make my homemade pumpkin cake if you want everything in this cake to be from scratch! Just leave off the cream cheese frosting as called for, and use the one in this recipe instead)
You’ll mix everything for the cake up at once, just like you would with a cake mix. Then when the cake is done baking, it’s removed from the oven and then poke holes all over the top of the cake. The top is drizzled all over with the caramel, so that it with seep down into the cake to give it that amazing caramel flavor and to make it extra moist throughout.
After the cake cools completely, its all topped with a whipped cream cheese topping, spread it all over the top smoothly, then cover the cake in more caramel and Heath Candy Bar bits to add the perfect extra caramel flavor and give it a nice crunch on top.
This Pumpkin Poke cake is the perfect cake for this time of year! It’s loved by all and even those who don’t usually call themselves pumpkin lovers!
Helpful Tips to make Pumpkin Poke Cake:
- You can substitute a white cake mix, or spice cake mix for this recipe if you don’t have a yellow cake mix on hand.
- For the best cake, use room temperature eggs. This helps the batter to come together smoothly, and helps so the cake doesn’t rise or fall too much in the middle.
- While I completely recommend the fluffy whipped cream cheese frosting in this recipe, you can substitute cool whip if you want something easier.
- Poke Cakes are best when eaten the next day, make this cake the night before you want to serve it, then it will be better the next day whenever you’re ready to slice right in.
- Store any leftover cake tightly covered with a lid or plastic wrap, or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days.
This pumpkin caramel poke cake is such an easy pumpkin dessert. It’s got all the best fall flavors in an amazing cake form, with gooey caramel sauce and the best pumpkin cake, all topped with the best frosting, and crunchy toffee bits, It’s a heavenly piece of fall perfection and it’ll easily become a favorite pumpkin dessert.
Looking for more pumpkin desserts?
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Cobbler
- Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Ice Cream
Connect with Like Mother, Like Daughter
Be sure to follow us on social media, so you never miss a single post!
Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Email
Pumpkin Poke Cake
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Cake:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 eggs
- 15 oz pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the Caramel Filling:
- 12 oz caramel syrup
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
For the Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy cream
For the Topping:
- 1 cup chopped Heath bits
- caramel topping
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
Instructions
For the Pumpkin Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together the cake mix, sugar, oil, water, eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Stir for 2 minutes until the batter is smooth.
- Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (approx. according to package directions) until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Poke the cake all over the top with the bottom of a wooden spoon.
For the Caramel Topping:
- Combine the caramel topping, and condensed milk in a medium sized bowl.
- Pour the caramel sauce all over the top of the cake to fill all the holes with the caramel. Spread the caramel around with a rubber spatula.
- Place the cake in the fridge to cool for 1 to 2 hours.
For the Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer) for about 1 minute until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and stir in.
- In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks are formed.
- Fold together the cream cheese and whipped cream carefully, until smooth.
- Spread the whipped ream cheese frosting over the top of the cake.
For the Topping:
- Drizzle caramel sauce over the cream cheese frosting, and sprinkle evenly with Heath Bits.
- Cover the cake and place in the fridge to chill for another 2 hours, up to overnight. Then slice and serve.
Tammie says
Thank you for this recipe. I was wondering if you could use cool whip instead of the cream, and if so, how much?
Aimee says
I’d use cool whip instead of the whipped cream cheese frosting if that’s the direction you want to go, but I’m not sure how it would mix with the cream cheese. I’d use an 8oz tub
Trish says
Hi,
My son adored this cake. I just service it plain with out doing sauce or frosting. Since he wants to eat if for breakfast I’d like to tweak a little to use whole grains flour. My son has Crohn’s. I often use Spelt which we think works well in baked goods. I Googled cake mix copycats but found a lot a variations. Would you know or have you ever made this completely from scratch? I’d love to make it that way. Also wondering if I can make w/out the extra little bit of sugar. If you have time I’d appreciate your thoughts. Best
Aimee says
I’m so glad you guys loved it! We have a homemade pumpkin cake recipe that you could use instead of the from box mix recipe, here’s the link https://lmld.org/pumpkin-cake/
Maddie says
Really good. Just a tad bit too sweet. It was a family favorite though
Aimee says
So glad everyone liked it. It definitely is a sweet cake, since it’s full of caramel and condensed milk 😉