Whether you’re looking for a special dessert to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in style or a rich and decadent cake with a boozy twist, this Irish Cream Chocolate Poke Cake won’t disappoint!
This Irish Cream Poke Cake bursts with Irish cream liqueur and espresso flavor. It comprises of a chocolate poke cake base, espresso and liqueur pudding filling, and whipped topping. Garnish with melted chocolate drizzle, chocolate chips, and chocolate-covered espresso beans!
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🗝️ Recipe's key points
- This chocolate poke cake is decadent and moist with smooth Irish cream flavor throughout - one of the best adult desserts I’ve made!
- This cake stores well in the fridge without becoming too soggy or drying it.
- Adding the Irish cream liqueur into the pudding mixture helps to evenly distribute the rich and creamy flavor of Irish cream throughout the entire cake for a boozy twist!
Irish Cream Poke Cake is your pot o’ gold waiting to be claimed! It’s the perfect adult dessert to celebrate St Patrick’s day or whenever you want to enjoy the rich and smooth flavors of Irish cream liqueur in dessert form!
🛒 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
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- Chocolate cake mix -- 16.5-ounce box mix plus the ingredients the box mix calls for
- Instant espresso powder
- Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur
- Heavy cream
- Sweetened condensed milk - 14-ounce can. NOT evaporated milk
- Instant vanilla pudding mix
- Confectioners' sugar
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- Chocolate-covered espresso beans
🗒 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Prepare the cake batter and bake the chocolate cake as directed by the cake mix packaging.
- Once baked, transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Poke 25 holes (5 rows of 5) into the cake using the handle of a wooden spoon. Set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the espresso powder, the sweetened condensed milk, the pudding mix, ½ cup of the heavy cream, and ½ cup of the Irish cream liqueur to a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk until combined. Allow the pudding mixture to rest for 5 minutes to set.
- Stir the remaining Irish cream liqueur and the remaining espresso powder together in a small bowl until the powder dissolves.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, beat the remaining heavy cream and confectioner’s sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
- Add the espresso mixture to the whipped cream.
- Whip the mixture until it is just incorporated, but don’t over mix.
- Return to the chocolate cake and spread the pudding mixture evenly over the top of the cake with a spatula. Fill all the holes with the mixture.
- Spread the whipped cream mixture over the pudding mixture using a separate spatula. Chill the cake for at least 1 hour or overnight at most. 30 minutes before serving, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until the consistency is soft. Let the melted chocolate cool slightly and then drizzle it over the top of the cake.
- Sprinkle the chocolate-covered espresso beans over the top of the cake. Slice and serve!
🥫 Storage
Store Irish cream poke cake in the fridge in its cake dish, covered with plastic wrap, or as individual leftover slices in an airtight container, for up to two days.
To freeze this poke cake, fill the poked cake with the pudding mix and then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then add the freshly made whipped topping and garnish with the melted chocolate drizzle, chocolate chips, and chocolate-covered espresso beans.
📚 Variations
- If you don’t want Irish cream in this poke cake, simply swap it out for additional heavy cream.
- Make an entirely different flavored poke cake by opting to use a different flavored cake mix, a different-flavored cream liqueur, and different toppings. For example, you can make a strawberry crunch poke cake by using a vanilla or strawberry cake mix, strawberry cream liqueur, and a crushed strawberry cookie topping.
- Use gluten-free cake mix and gluten-free pudding mix to make this Irish cream poke cake gluten-free.
- Use store-bought chocolate sheet cake for convenience instead of making your own from scratch.
- For added fun, make the cake base with vanilla cake mix and add a few drops of green gel food coloring into the batter - great for St Patrick’s day!
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- Allow the pudding mixture to set slightly so that it doesn’t get completely absorbed by the cake. Likewise, allowing the cake to cool before assembling with the pudding mixture will prevent excessive absorption.
- Be careful not to over whip the cream mixture, especially when incorporating the espresso paste, or it can turn to a lumpy and buttery consistency.
- Try your best to spread out the poked holes in your cake as evenly as possible. This will ensure a good and even distribution of the pudding mixture throughout the cake.
- It’s okay if you poke the holes right through to the bottom of the cake.
- It’s best to use a sharp knife for slicing clean slices of this creamy poke cake.
🤔 FAQs
Irish cream cake is made of cake mix, pudding mix, Irish cream liqueur, and a whipped cream topping.
If your poke cake is soggy, it’s likely due to the holes being poked too close to each other, leading to excess moisture in certain sections of the cake.
Irish cream cake typically includes Irish cream liqueur, adding flavor to the cake and giving it a boozy twist.
Irish cream liqueur, such as Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur, is the alcohol used in Irish cream cake. Of course, you can use any other brand of Irish cream liqueur too.
Irish cream has 17% alcohol content by volume.
📗 Related Recipes
- Italian Love Cake - This Italian Love Cake is rich and decadent with a combination of chocolate cake, cheesecake, and a whipped topping.
- Tiramisu Cake Topped With Zabaglione Cream - Another boozy cake that you won’t want to miss. It’s a popular Italian dessert with rich espresso flavor and Amaretto laced Zabaglione Cream.
- Filled Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes - If you love the idea of delicious surprise fillings in your dessert, then these strawberry cupcakes should not be missed!
🍽 What to serve with Irish Cream Poke Cake
Enjoy a slice of this Irish cream poke cake on its own or served in a dessert bowl with a scoop of Cappuccino Gelato, Nutella Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, or Vanilla Ice Cream.
Why stop there? A glass of this Homemade Irish Cream or Baileys Iced Coffee would also make a dynamite pairing.
🔪 All Our Way recommends the following
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Electric mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Wooden Spoon
- Dry measuring cups
- Liquid Measuring cup
- Baking dish -- 13X9-inch
- Spatulas
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
I don't know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time finding the perfect dolce (sweet) that will impress picky guests. Don't get me wrong, the dinner guests I was trying to impress are charming friends, but they consider themselves connoisseurs regarding sweets, especially Italian desserts.
The result was that they loved the deliciously moist and boozy dessert. And the best part? It was easy to make using a simple cake mix and vanilla pudding. Trust me, this chocolate poke cake is a game-changer and will have everyone asking for your secret recipe.
Next party or family gathering, try the recipe out, and then let me know how much they sang your praises.
Tutti a tavolo, è pronto!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📖 Recipe
Irish Cream Chocolate Poke Cake
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 16.5 ounce chocolate cake mix,
- 3 Tablespoons instant espresso powder divided
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 cups heavy cream divided
- ½ cup Irish cream liqueur
- 2 Tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
- ¼ cup confectioners' sugar sifted
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chocolate-covered espresso beans coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Bake the chocolate cake according to the package directions.
- Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let it cool completely.
- Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke 25 holes, making 5 rows of 5, in the top of the cake.
- In a medium bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of the espresso powder, the sweetened condensed milk, the pudding mix, ½ cup of the heavy cream, and ½ cup of the Irish cream liqueur until the mixture is combined.
- Let the pudding mixture rest until it has set, about 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, stir the remaining Irish cream liqueur and the remaining espresso powder together until the powder dissolves.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to whip the remaining heavy cream and the confectioners' sugar together until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
- Add the espresso mixture to the whipped cream mixture and whip until it is just incorporated.
- Use a spatula to evenly spread the pudding mixture over the top of the cooled cake, ensuring the holes get filled completely.
- Use another spatula to evenly spread the whipped cream mixture over the pudding mixture.
- Chill the cake for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
- About 30 minutes before serving, in a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until it is soft.
- Let the melted chocolate cool slightly and then drizzle it over the top of the cake.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with the chocolate-covered espresso beans.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the cake.
- Serve cold.
Nutrition
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