Tuesday, October 18, 2016

In praise of poke cakes

Over the weekend, the Webster side of my family had its annual family reunion at a state park in Crawfordville, Ga. It was great to get together again with my dad's side of the family, and for me, one of the highlights was that several of my aunts — whom I consider some of the best cooks God ever put on this earth — asked for the recipe for the Pumpkin Caramel Cream Cheese Poke Cake that I took!

I've long been a fan of the "poke" cake, the out-of-a-box cake you bake, poke holes in, and then fill with yummy stuff like, in this case, caramel ice cream topping, whipped cream, and cream cheese. Not exactly a diet-friendly recipe, but then I tend to make a poke cake only once or twice a year.

I found the recipe on Pinterest, naturally, and was quite pleased with my first effort at making a herringbone pattern by dragging a toothpick back and forth through the caramel. I froze my cake overnight so it would still be cold (and thawed) by the time it arrived at the reunion two hours away. If you're a fan of poke cakes, give this one a try! (And tell me, how can we adjust this for teatime? I absolutely love the moist texture of poke cakes, and the creamy toppings, but other than scooping up individual bits and making mini trifles out of them, I cannot think of a cute and clever way to present this at the tea table. Can you?)

8 comments:

  1. That looks absolutely yummy, divine, and delicious all in one!

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  2. Oh, that looks delicious and I wish I had a piece right now!
    I wonder if the cake could be baked in individual ramekins, then poked and filled and frosted for individual servings at tea time. (I wondered about cupcakes but that might be harder.) It would take some experimenting but I bet it would be quite tasty!

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  3. Perfect for an October family reunion.

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  4. Yum! This sounds so good, Angela! A lovely dessert for a reunion. Wish I'd known about this recipe back in July when we had our reunion.

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  5. Oh, I have rediscovered poke cakes this year and have enjoyed making them so much. This one sounds fabulous.

    I, too, wondered if cupcakes wouldn't work for making a mini version of a poke cake. It might be worth experimenting with that idea!

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  6. I was at the grocery store and 3 dear older ladies were each pushing a cart each. None had anything in their cart which I found interesting but they were so engrossed in a conversation as one of the 3 told the others how she was going to make a "poke cake". It was hilarious to hear the details! Yours looks wonderful and yummy!

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