Amazing Banana Pudding Poke Cake Recipe

This Amazing Banana Pudding Poke Cake takes classic banana pudding to a whole other level! This banana cake is delicious, moist, and so easy to make with a boxed yellow cake mix, creamy vanilla pudding, whipped cream, fresh bananas, and vanilla wafers. 

Amazing Banana Pudding Poke Cake Recipe

Love classic banana pudding? Love easy poke cakes? Meet your new best friend – Banana Pudding Poke Cake!

This Amazing Banana Pudding Poke Cake Recipe will knock your socks off and it’s truly the perfect dessert to make for summertime celebrations with family and friends.

This Banana Pudding Poke Cake starts with a delicious banana cake made from a yellow cake mix, and is topped with layers of pudding, fresh slices of banana, whipped cream, and an incredible crushed vanilla wafer streusel topping.

It’s SO easy to make and tastes SO good that everyone will beg you to make it again and again.

Watch my full video tutorial over here and don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel for weekly recipe videos!

The Best Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Banana pudding is such a classic and one of my personal favorites desserts to make during the summertime.

I absolutely LOVE making my Delicious and Dreamy Layered Banana Pudding Dessert for a quick and easy no-bake treat and everyone in my family loves it.

But for those times when you really want to impress your guests with a fun twist on classic banana pudding, THIS IS THE PERFECT DESSERT.

More Banana Recipes:

• Best Banana Muffins with Self Rising Flour
• Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Muffins
• Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

5-Layer Banana Pudding Poke Cake

This easy banana pudding poke cake consists of 5 main layers as follows:

• Easy Banana Cake – The bottom layer consists of a simple yellow cake mix that is doctored up with very ripe bananas and vanilla extract. It’s incredibly moist and flavorful and poked with holes using the end of a wooden spoon after baking.
• Vanilla Pudding – Next is the vanilla pudding layer for filling the holes and sitting on top. I love keeping it classic with two boxes of instant vanilla pudding prepared with 1/2 cup extra milk to keep it light and luscious. You could also substitute banana flavored pudding, if preferred.
• Fresh Bananas – While you want to use extra ripe bananas for baking in the cake, you’ll want to use fresh bananas for slicing on your cake for the best flavor. Place them directly on top of the vanilla pudding.
• Whipped Cream – The next layer is yummy whipped cream! You can use either homemade whipped cream or an 8 ounce container of cool whip.
• Vanilla Wafer Streusel – Lastly is my personal favorite layer! Crushed vanilla wafers are combined with flour, sugar, and melted butter and baked crispy for a delicious streusel topping. You could always just crush up vanilla wafers, but this extra step is what really makes it delicious and sets it apart from regular banana pudding.

Recommended Kitchen Tools:

• 9×13 Baking Dish
• Sifter (for sifting cake)
• Large Glass Mixing Bowl
• Electric Hand Mixer
• Rubber Spatula
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Wooden Spoon (for poking holes)
• Pre-Cut Parchment Paper
• Cookie Sheet
• Cooling Rack
• Cake Icing Spatula

How to Make Banana Pudding Poke Cake

This banana pudding poke cake is super easy to make and is great for making ahead and refrigerating until the next day. This banana poke cake will stay fresh in the refrigerator up to 3 days after making it.

Garnish Tip: I recommend waiting to add the vanilla wafer crumb topping until you are ready to serve so that it stays perfectly crunchy!

Also, if you plan to add some sliced bananas to the top of your cake (like I did in the photos), wait until you are ready to serve so that your banana slices don’t turn brown.

Alternatively a little trick you can use to prevent banana slices from browning is to gently stir them in a bowl with some lemon juice.

For a full step-by-step guide, watch my video below:

Amazing Banana Pudding Poke Cake Recipe

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This Amazing Banana Pudding Poke Cake takes classic banana pudding to a whole other level! This banana cake is delicious, moist, and so easy to make with a boxed yellow cake mix, creamy vanilla pudding, whipped cream, fresh bananas, and vanilla wafers. 

• Author: Kindly Unspoken
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Chill Time: 1 Hour
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
• Yield: 12 servings 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Banana Cake

• 1 15.25 oz box yellow cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Pudding/Filling

• 2 small (3.4 ounce) boxes vanilla instant pudding
• 3 1/2 cups of milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Banana Layer

• 2–3 medium fresh bananas, sliced

Whipped Cream Topping

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• or 8 oz cool whip, thawed

Vanilla Wafer Crumb Topping

• 20 vanilla wafers, crushed
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp melted butter

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9×13 glass baking dish or cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl combine yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, 1 cup water, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 2 ripe bananas mashed. Use an electric hand mixer and mix for about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
• Pour cake batter evenly into prepared baking dish and bake in the oven for 23-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Let cake cool on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon handle, poke about 30 holes evenly in the cake. Make sure you poke holes all the way to the bottom of the cake.
• Combine instant pudding mixes with milk and vanilla extract. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
• Pour pudding mixture over the cake and spread to go down into the holes. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• While cake is chilling, prepare your homemade whipped cream by combining heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk with an electric hand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form (about 1 minute).
• To prepare your vanilla wafer crumb topping, combine crushed vanilla wafers, flour, sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl, and stir until combined. Spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 5-6 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool.
• After cake has been refrigerated, top with a layer of sliced bananas, and then a layer of whipped cream. If desired, use the bottom of a spoon to make a wavy design in the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Once ready to serve, top with the vanilla wafer crumb topping and more sliced bananas if desired, and enjoy!*

Notes

• I recommend letting the cake chill for a few hours before serving.  You can even make this cake the day before and chill overnight. This makes it much easier to cut clean slices.
• I also recommend waiting to add the vanilla wafer crumb topping until you are ready to eat it. This will ensure the topping remains crispy and doesn’t get soggy. If you are not serving the entire cake, add to individual slices as needed.
• If you plan to add some sliced bananas to the top of your cake (like I did in the photos), wait until you are ready to serve so that your banana slices don’t turn brown. Alternatively a little trick you can use to prevent banana slices from browning is to gently stir them in a bowl with some lemon juice.
• Store leftover cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

More Delicious Cakes to Try:

• Crushed Pineapple Upside Down Cake
• Best Sock It To Me Cake

More Poke Cakes You’ll Love:

• Hawaiian Pineapple Coconut Poke Cake
• 5-Ingredient Strawberry Poke Cake
• 20 Easy Poke Cake Recipes

I hope you enjoyed today’s post for my Amazing Banana Pudding Poke Cake Recipe!

Do you love all the incredible flavors of banana pudding too? Share this post with a friend or family member who would love this!

Thanks for stopping by! – Cara

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