Carrot Cake Poke Cake
Carrot cake poke cake is a delightfully tasty and easy take on the springtime favorite! This festive dessert is perfect for Easter, Mother’s Day, or any spring celebration.
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We host pretty much everything at our house.
I don’t mind being the hub where everyone gathers for the holidays.
And I’ve gotten good at making entertaining fairly easy on myself.
One of the things I do is forgo making complicated desserts in favor of easy- but still festive- alternatives.
This carrot cake poke cake is just the thing for Easter!
It’s so much easier than making a homemade carrot cake but super moist with its pudding filling and cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need a set of ingredients for the cake itself and one for the frosting.
For the cake you’ll need:
- Carrot cake mix– A 13.25 ounce package of your favorite brand. You’ll also need the ingredients called for on the package.
- Milk– Cold milk
- Instant pudding mix– 2 3.4 ounce boxes of cheesecake pudding mix.
And for the frosting you’ll need:
- Butter– Softened to room temperature.
- Cream cheese– Softened to room temperature.
- Powdered Sugar
- Food coloring– Orange and green
How to Make
This carrot cake poke cake is so easy to make!
To do it, make the cake batter in a mixing bowl according to the directions on the package.
Pour the cake batter into a greased 9×13 inch baking dish.
Bake the cake for 35 minutes or until cooked through and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and let cool slightly.
Once the cake is slightly cool, use a large straw or end of a wooden spoon to poke holes evenly on the surface of the cake.
Set the cake aside and let it cool completely.
Once it’s cooled, whisk the milk with the cheesecake pudding mix until smooth and combined.
Fill the holes in the cake with the pudding mix and spread the rest across the top.
Then make the icing by beating together the butter and cream cheese with an electric hand mixer in a large bowl.
Beat in one cup of sugar at a time until all the sugar is incorporated.
Set aside about ¼ cup of the frosting and then about 2 tablespoons of the frosting.
Dye the ¼ cup frosting orange and the 2 tablespoons green.
Frost the cake with the remaining undyed cream cheese frosting.
Scoop the orange frosting in a small ziploc bag and the green frosting into a second small ziploc bag.
Snip off the corner of each bag.
Pipe on orange carrots all over the cake and use the green to add stems on the carrots.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Slice and serve!
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container or tightly wrapped in the baking dish in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes. You can make it the day before if you want to lighten your workload the day of!
Tips and Tricks
- Not a fan of cheesecake pudding or can’t find any? Use vanilla instead.
- If you want to make this even easier, you can skip making homemade frosting and use your favorite store bought cream cheese frosting instead.
- Likewise, if piping on carrots isn’t your thing, look for cute sprinkles or even use candy carrot decorations.
Other Easter Poke Cakes
Carrot cake poke cake is one of my favorite ways to end Easter brunch or dinner.
Make it and enjoy!
Looking for other Easter poke cake ideas?
Try these:
If you’ve tried this CARROT CAKE POKE CAKE recipe, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Carrot Cake Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 13.25 oz pkg carrot cake mix + ingredients called for on pkg to make the batter
- 3 cups cold milk
- 2 3.4 oz boxes instant cheesecake pudding mix
- 1 stick butter softened
- 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- orange and green food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl combine the cake mix with the oil, eggs and water the package calls for.1 13.25 oz pkg carrot cake mix
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
- Pour the cake batter into the dish.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked through and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool slightly.
- Use a large straw or end of a wooden spoon.
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk the milk with the cheesecake pudding mix until smooth and combined.3 cups cold milk, 2 3.4 oz boxes instant cheesecake pudding mix
- Fill the holes in the cake with the pudding mix and spread the rest across the top.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer combine the butter and cream cheese.1 stick butter, 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
- Once blended add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time.4 cups powdered sugar
- Set aside about ¼ cup of the frosting and then about 2 tablespoons of the frosting.
- Dye the ¼ cup frosting orange and the 2 tablespoons green.orange and green food coloring
- Frost the cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting.
- Place the orange frosting in a small ziploc bag and the green frosting in a small ziploc bag. Snip off the corner of each bag.
- Pipe on orange carrots all over the cake.
- Pipe on some green stems on the carrots.
- Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
- Not a fan of cheesecake pudding or can't find any? Use vanilla instead.
- If you want to make this even easier, you can skip making homemade frosting and use your favorite store bought cream cheese frosting instead.
- Likewise, if piping on carrots isn't your thing, look for cute sprinkles or even use candy carrot decorations.
Nutrition
This post may contain affiliate links. As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my full Disclosure Policy for details. As always, all opinions are my own.
