This moist, fudgy, decadently rich chocolate poke cake recipe makes such a great addition to any party!

Easy chocolate poke cake

A few weeks ago, I received an email with such an incredible and exciting opportunity that my initial thought was, “There’s just no way I’m not dreaming right now.”

HERSHEY’S Kitchens asked if I’d like to be a guest chef on their website, creating a new recipe in partnership with them to highlight a few of their core baking products, such as the Simply 5 Chocolate Syrup. Having grown up with their original chocolate syrup (It was the only way my mom could get me to drink milk!), I was intrigued and happy to learn they now offer a version with just 5 simple ingredients and no high fructose corn syrup, artificial preservatives, or artificial flavors.

I knew exactly what I wanted to make first with the syrup: a homemade chocolate poke cake!

Originally popular in the 1970s, the idea of a poke cake is to press holes into the top and pour on a filling that soaks into the cake. This step adds extra moisture and flavor to each deliciously gooey bite.

Poke cakes have been making a resurgence in recent years. They seem to be really popular lately at potlucks or barbecues, with anything from pudding, to caramel sauce, to fruit flavored gelatin, to sweetened condensed milk being used as the filling.

You Might Also Like: Chocolate No Bake Cookies

My favorite chocolate cake to share

I made this chocolate poke cake over the weekend to share with a small group of friends.

As we sat on the balcony catching up and eating chocolate cake, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Baking is something that has always made me ridiculously happy.

It’s a creative outlet where I can use my imagination to transform everyday household ingredients into an endless array of magical possibilities, turning the chocolate desserts of my dreams into reality.

And one of my favorite parts of the baking process is sharing the results with others.

Step by step recipe video

(The recipe video above now has over 1 million views on facebook!!!)

Tips for making the best chocolate poke cake

1. You can poke small or large holes into the cake. I decided my favorite way is to poke a larger number of smaller holes with a fork, which disperses the chocolate filling more evenly.

2. Check off each ingredient as you add it, to ensure you don’t accidentally skip over an easy-to-miss item such as salt or baking soda.

3. When making a recipe for the first time, it’s always a good idea to follow the recipe exactly, without substituting a different flour, sweetener, or cutting back on the salt, sugar, or oil. Even seemingly small changes can make a huge difference.

Once you know how a recipe is supposed to turn out, you can play around. Edible experiments are the best kind!

4. Be sure to have all ingredients out and read through the full recipe before starting.

5. As a general rule, baked goods are actually richer, sweeter, and have a much better texture the day after they are made. That is definitely the case with this dark chocolate cake and many of my other recipes.

If you can wait, I highly recommend not even tasting the poke cake until the next day.

Also Try These: Sweet Potato Brownies

Why you should try this chocolate poke cake

This was my first time making a poke cake from scratch, and I was surprised at how just the one little step could have such an enormous impact on the results – it is so much better than an ordinary chocolate cake!

The chocolate syrup gave the cake a soft and opulent center with an unbelievable richness. If you can find HERSHEY’S Simply 5 Syrup, I highly recommend it, because it can be used just like regular chocolate syrup yet has a much cleaner ingredient list (no GMOs, and just 5 ingredients: cane sugar, organic invert cane syrup, water, cocoa, and natural vanilla).

I also used HERSHEY’S Natural Unsweetened Cocoa to make this cake. It’s vegan and 100% natural, as the only ingredient is cocoa.

I frosted this cake with my Avocado Chocolate Frosting, but the cake is so decadent on its own that you can honestly get away with skipping the frosting altogether and it will still be fantastic!

Trending Recipes Right Now:

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Brownie Cheesecake Recipe

Keto Cookies

Thank you again to HERSHEY’S Kitchen for sponsoring this post. I was excited for the opportunity and had so much fun creating this recipe. If you try the poke cake, be sure to tag me @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram so I can see and like your photos!