Lemon Poke Cake
With Lemon Curd and Whipping Cream
This is an easy, refreshing and delicious lemon poke cake made with a boxed cake mix, lemon curd and topped with a stabilized whipped cream and raspberries It’s always a hit any time of the year and goes very quickly.
This oh so simple and delicious Lemon Poke Cake is slathered with lemon curd and topped with a scrumptious homemade stabilized whipped cream, lemon zest and fresh raspberries (optional). It’s simply delicious and if you love lemon desserts this one will quickly become a new favourite!
For The Love of Lemon
The refreshing flavour of lemon always seems to go hand in hand with spring and summer which of course brings us warmer weather. I however have always loved anything with lemon, especially when it comes to desserts. I don’t love overly sweet desserts but I don’t want them to be sour either. You can create and enjoy some amazing lemon desserts and our lemon poke cake is one of them!
If you love lemon desserts as much as we do make sure to check out our other lemon desserts like the ones below!
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What you need for this recipe:
- White or lemon cake mix
- Eggs
- Oil (vegetable or canola)
- Raspberries for garnish
- Lemons
- Lemon curd
- Whipping cream
- Powdered Sugar
- Plain Gelatin
Brownie Stuffed Melting Magic Chocolate Ball
What’s Poke Cake?
I admit until a couple of years ago I hadn’t even heard of poke cakes and now I’m all over them. So many variations to be made and eaten, so little time and my waistline can’t take them all. However, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to try all those different and delicious flavours!
However, even though it has a funny name it also gets right to the point because you are literally poking holes on the top of a baked cake. Hence why it’s called a poke cake, makes sense right? Once you’ve poked the holes into your cake then you’re slathering some time of liquid and/or pudding on top of it which then sinks down the holes that you created in the cake.
The cake absorbs the pudding or in our case lemon curd and once the cake has been chilled the liquid or pudding or lemon curd thickens into the cake make it super-duper moist and yummy. Once the cake has been chilled then you can put whatever toppings you want on the cake. For us we started with a stabilized whipped cream.
The Best Poke Cake
One thing to think about for your poke cake is how deep you want to poke the holes into the cake. Do you want there to pockets of the lemon curd (or pudding) throughout the cake or do you prefer to have it so it’s more of an evenly dispersed layer throughout the cake?
If you want pockets of lemon curd goodness throughout the cake make the holes deeper, at least halfway down the cake. For a lemon-y more evenly dispersed layer then make the holes more shallow, no more than 1/3 down the cake.
Make sure to PIN this recipe for later!
Optional flavours
If you would like an intense lemon flavour then you can use a lemon box cake if you prefer (or make one from scratch). You can also add more lemon zest on top of the whipped cream and you can even add some zest to the cake mix itself.
In the photo above you can see the lemon curd in the cake. We did deeper holes to get the pockets of lemon curd. Either way, you can’t go wrong. You can also use a lemon pudding but if you use an instant pudding it solidifies quickly so slather it on the cake as soon as possible.
Make sure to check out all of our recipes including our Coconut Chocolate Poke Cake recipe that also has a video! Or, make my personal favorite, death by chocolate poke cake recipe instead!
Now let’s get to our lemon poke cake recipe shall we?
Lemon Poke Cake with Whipping Cream
This easy, refreshing and delicious lemon poke cake is made with lemon curd and topped with a stabilized whipped cream and raspberries.
Ingredients
- 1 white cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of water
- 1/3 cup of oil
- Raspberries for garnish
- 1 lemon for zest
- 1 lemon for garnish
- Lemon curd (about 1 cup) - link in notes to lemon curd recipe.
- 2 cups of whipping cream
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp of gelatin mixed with 2 tbsp of water
Instructions
- Mix cake mix, eggs, water and oil until combined put in a 9x9 cake pan.
- Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Remove from oven and poke with the end of a wooden spoon creating holes in the cake.
- Pour lemon curd on top and gently press into holes. You may have some left on the top, that is okay.
- Place in fridge to cool for 20 minutes
- Prepare whipping cream by mixing gelatin and water and let bloom for 2 minutes. Mix with whipping cream and powdered sugar and mix in a blender for 1 minute or until you have a thick whipping cream
- Scoop onto the cake and spread as evenly as possible. Let it set for 2-4 hours.
- Garnish with lemon zest, sliced lemons and raspberries
Notes
Please see the post for more detailed tips.
You can use a lemon cake mix for more intense lemon flavour.
Add lemon zest to the cake batter for a more lemon-y flavour.
If you want to make your own lemon curd you can check out our recipe Lemon Curd Recipe HERE
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
9Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 403Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 159mgSodium: 116mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 5g
Please note that we can not guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information. They are a best guess calculation.
This lemon poke cake with the stabilized whipping cream and raspberries on top is a family favourite. I almost regret making it as the family is always asking for it but it is so yummy so I give in as I want to have some too!
If you try this recipe make sure to let us know how you liked it and if you did any variations that you loved we want to hear about them. In the meantime enjoy!
I love lemon and am always looking for new recipes. These all look yummy and I will be trying some soon.
My mouth is watering. That lemon poke cake looks amazing. I bookmarked this and will definitely be trying it. Thank you.
Sounds like a perfect summer treat to take to BBQs.
Delicious! My boyfriend would love this!!
My youngest daughter asked me to make her a poke cake for her birthday. This looks amazing. She loves lemon. I really love the way you garnished it. I will pin this recipe and see if she wants me to make it for her birthday.
My hubby love lemon pound cake look so simple to make for sure thanks for sharing it
I had never heard of a poke cake before. Since lemon is my favorite flavor of cake, I will give this recipe a try. Thanks!
Poke Cakes have been around for YEARS! I used to make them and take to work 40 years ago. Quick and easy and did not cost a lot of money when it was your turn to take in treats.
Never made a lemon one and it looks and sounds so good.
This looks totally awesome and I am going to make it. The only tweak I could give is to use strawberries instead of raspberries (just a personal preference). Lemon is both sweet and tangy – SO much better than a plain chocolate cake, where so often you taste nothing but the sugar. Thanks!
This loos so good. I want to try this recipe!
Looks is what I meant. I pinned this!
Oh my, that looks so delicious. I love lemon desserts.
I have never heard of poke cake but it looks delicious. I love the lemon filling, so yummy.