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The Perfect Gingerbread Poke Cake For The Holidays

Looking for a quick gingerbread cake mix hack? This Gingerbread poke cake starts off with store-bought cake mix and ends up as a delicious and sweet dessert idea that will wow the crowd.

gingerbread poke cake

How do you make gingerbread poke cake? Combine gingerbread crackers, spice cake mix, seasonings like ginger and nutmeg, and add it to buttermilk. Top with whipped cream and ice cream and serve.

Poke cakes for winter typically have flavors like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg embedded into their design. This dense and rich cake mixture is the perfect dessert idea for any holiday gathering during the colder months.

poke and pour cake

Ingredients Needed To Make This Christmas Cake Recipe

  • 1 box, 15.25 oz, spice cake mix or gingerbread cake mix
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 can, 14 oz, sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tub, 8 oz, whipped topping, thawed
  • 24 gingerbread crackers
  • caramel ice cream topping
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ingredients for spiced dessert

How To Make Gingerbread Poke Cake

Crush 12 gingerbread cookies. Set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. 

Add cake mix, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg to a bowl and mix well. Add buttermilk, oil, molasses and oil. Mix well. Pour into prepared pan. 

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool completely. 

poke holes into gingerbread cake

Poke cake with a wooden spoon handle. Fill holes and cover cake with sweetened condensed milk. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

add whipped topping to cake

Remove from fridge and top with whipped topping.

sprinkle with gingerbread cookies

Sprinkle with crushed cookies and tuck whole cookies into cake. 

gingerbread poke and pour

Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.  Slice and serve topped with caramel ice cream topping. Serves 12.

This recipe is the perfect solution if you are looking for a way how to improve boxed gingerbread mix. Yes, you start with something store-bought, but you end up with something entirely different.

Poke and pour ginger cake tips

  • Your poke and pour ginger cake will be both dense and sweet. The ginger flavor combined with the crunchy crumbled cookies mesh very well with the ooey-gooey cake combination. This recipe makes 12 pieces, but you might think that that is too rich to serve. Consider cutting the servings down.  
  • If you make this the day before, stop at the Cool Whip part of the recipe. The cookies will soften if you refrigerate overnight. Instead, add cookies the day you plan to serve. 
poke cake for christmas

I love the combination of gingerbread cookies and cake! The taste and the crunch – it feels like an entirely new dessert just perfect for the holidays.

poke cake for christmas

Gingerbread Poke Cake

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 1 minute
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Total Time: 23 minutes

Looking for a quick gingerbread cake mix hack? This Gingerbread poke cake starts off with store-bought cake mix and ends up as a delicious and sweet dessert idea that will wow the crowd.

Ingredients

  • 1 box, 15.25 oz, spice cake mix or gingerbread cake mix
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 can, 14 oz, sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tub, 8 oz, whipped topping, thawed
  • 24 gingerbread crackers
  • caramel ice cream topping

Instructions

  1. Crush 12 gingerbread cookies. Set aside. 
  2. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. 
  3. Add cake mix, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg to a bowl and mix well. Add buttermilk, oil, molasses and oil. Mix well. Pour into prepared pan. 
  4. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool completely. 
  5. Poke cake with a wooden spoon handle. Fill holes and cover cake with sweetened condensed milk. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove from fridge and top with whipped topping. Sprinkle with crushed cookies and tuck whole cookies into cake. 
  6. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.  Slice and serve topped with caramel ice cream topping. Serves 12.
  7. This recipe is the perfect solution if you are looking for a way how to improve boxed gingerbread mix. Yes, you start with something store-bought, but you end up with something entirely different.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Tag me on Instagram (@VeraSweeney) so I can see your wonderful creation! I would love to see your dish.

Rachelle Castro

Friday 18th of December 2020

Sorry if this has been brought up but in the directions it says mix oil where the eggs should be.

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