Mint Chocolate Chip Poke Cake

A Quick and Easy, Rich and Decadent, Probably Shouldn't Be Indulged In Too Often Cake

Cakes tend to manifest in my friend's lives quite often, especially when their birthdays occur. I was out of town during one of our dearest friend's special day and even missed his birthday soiree. This particular pal comes over every Thursday night for game night, so I knew that I could spring a cake on him as a means of birthday absence penance. I had just a bit of a problem though, my life is super, wildly busy right now: I'm teaching school every day, working at the library, coaching volleyball, there's 4H, soccer, and this week my kid's drama and dance troupe is having their biannual play and dance recital. How was I going to fit in cake construction into that bananas schedule?

Enter the poke cake. I've made many different variations of poke cakes. A poke cake at it's core is a standard cake with holes poked in it while it is still hot, and then flavored sweetened condensed milk poured onto the cake and allowed to chill and soak in for a bit. Yum city!!

After a quick pantry assessment I determined that I did indeed have the ingredients needed for such a birthday joy-bringing enterprise. I usually just see what I have lurking in my larder and create a suitable recipe around item availability. Probably a weird way to cook, but I do live in the woods, and thus try to keep a well stocked kitchen and pantry. I also might hate shopping with a fiery passion and would almost always rather avoid a trip to the store.

So, with that bit of explanation, here is the recipe that I threw together for the belated birthday cake. It's very simple, super rich, and incredibly delicious. I know this statement to be true, as my friend ate half of the cake tonight! 😊

Mint Chocolate Chip Poke Cake

Ingredients:

The Cake
1 chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate)
1 1/4 cups of buttermilk
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil

The Filling
1-14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1-14 ounce jar of hot fudge (The kind you put on ice cream!)
1/2 tsp mint extract

The Topping
16-24 ounces of Cool Whip, softened (I would never presume to know someone's
preferred Cool Whip to cake ratio.)
1/2 tsp mint extract
A few drops of green food coloring (optional)
20 or more mint Oreos

Method

Add cake mix, buttermilk, eggs, and oil to a mixing bowl and beat with a mixer for 30 seconds. Scrape bowl with spatula and beat with mixer for 4 minutes. Pour into a 9X13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for the recommended time for that cake size or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Poke holes all over the top of a cake with the handle of a wooden spoon, a knife, or whatever makes you happy. Let cake cool for 5 minutes. While the cake is cooling, mix the hot fudge, sweetened condensed milk, and peppermint extract together. I slightly heat the hot fudge before I mix it with the other ingredients for about 30 seconds in the microwave. That little bit of heating makes it easier to remove from the jar. After combining the ingredients spread on top of the cake and let it soak in. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Mix the mint extract and food coloring if using into the thawed Cool Whip and spread on top of the cake.

Chop of the Oreos into chunks. I use a few pulses in the food processor for this step. Sprinkle the cookie pieces on top of the cake.

Cut the cake into obscenely sized pieces and devour like a meat deprived hyena.

And as always, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's mint chocolate flavored iPhone.