Candy Corn Poke Cake is the perfect Halloween dessert. It is super easy to make but has a big wow factor!!
I love the Halloween season so much. It is so much fun to decorate the house, enjoy the changing of the leaves, and get some relief from that summer heat. And of course the treats. I love the treats.
This Candy Corn Poke Cake makes for a great Halloween treat. It is easy to throw together, and it is perfect to make with the kiddos.
I made this poke cake this morning, and we enjoyed it tonight. Very simple and delicious! Thank you for sharing!
How to Make Candy Corn Poke Cake
This is a brief overview of how to make this easy dessert. For the full recipe with all of the instructions, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Make the cake mix. We are keeping this simple with a box cake mix. Make it as instructed and stop before pouring it in to the pan to bake.
- Color the batter. To get that great candy corn color affect, we are going to add food coloring to the batter. Divide the batter into thirds. Keep one white, dye one yellow, and dye one orange. You can see my recommendation for food dye below.
- Put together the cake. The key to keep the colors separate is to freeze the batter between adding layers. After first adding the yellow, freeze the batter for 20 minutes. Then add the orange layer and freeze it again. Finally add the white layer.
- Bake the cake. Let the unbaked cake sit on top of your preheating oven for 30 minutes before baking so that it is closer to room temperature.
- Make the holes. After the cake finishes baking, poke holes in it. Then add the sweetened condensed milk. Allow the cake to cool.
- Decorate the cake. Add Cool Whip or Stabilized Whipped Cream to the poke cake and top it with candy corn before serving.
Stabilized Whipped Cream
If you would rather not use Cool Whip in this recipe, you can replace it with Stabilized Whipped Cream. Just using whipped cream for the top will prevent you from being able to leave the cake out. However, if you make my stabilized whipped cream, it will behave just like Cool Whip
Stabilized Whipped Cream
Food Coloring
Food Coloring is an essential piece to this cake. It is what leaves it with that candy corn look. You can use any food coloring to make this, but the food coloring linked below is perfect because you need a lot less of it to achieve the color you are going for.
Gel Food Coloring
Other Halloween Treats
If you are hosting a Halloween party, here are a few other great choices.
If you make this Candy Corn Poke Cake or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Candy Corn Poke Cake
Ingredients
- one box of white cake mix plus the fixn’s needed to make it
- food coloring
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- whipped topping
- candy corn
Instructions
- Make the cake batter as directed. Then divide it into three equal parts. Color one yellow, one orange, and leave one alone. Make sure you add enough to make it really vibrant.
- Spray the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan . Spread the yellow layer evenly across the bottom, and then stick it in the freezer (make sure it is sitting flat). Leave it in there for 20 minutes.
- As soon as you pull it out, very carefully add the orange layer, pouring it as evenly as possible around the pan, and gently spreading it out to cover the yellow. Put it back in the freezer for 20 more minutes.
- Preheat your oven to the temperature specified on the cake mix.
- Taking out the cake batter pan, again, carefully spread the white layer. Let it sit on top of the preheating oven for at least 30 minutes.
- Bake according to package directions. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes throughout the cake with the end of a wooden spoon. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the cake, making sure to fill each hole.
- Refrigerate overnight. Right before serving, top with whipped topping, candy corn, and enjoy!
- **Note, the candy corn tends to bleed into the whip cream, so if you aren’t going to be serving it right away, you might want to wait to top it.
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says
We have been having a few tough mornings with my daughter. She stated middle school and cries every morning so far. Maybe I should make this for her!
Ugh, Nancy that is rough!! I loathed middle school! It was the absolute worst! I hope things get better for her soon!!
marilyn says
Put the emphasis on making the treat together & spending “time” together encouraging your daughter. Enjoy eating the treat and maybe ask her is she wants to take some of it to school to share with one other person. Just providing her a sweet treat can encourage children to “eat treats” when they feel sad.
Meghan @ The Tasty Fork says
Awe!! That was a sweet story, Lisa! I’m sure we’re going to have many fun stories of Gavin at kindergarten on the way! And I hope you get to order school photos this year :)
Thanks Meghan! Yay, this year’s picture was perfect, we got to see the preview :) No poopn’ face!
tanya says
I am so happy for this recipe!!! I have been so excited about for fall and all that comes with it! I have to try this! And don’t get me started on school! I have worried about whether or not I spent quality time with my kids before they started kindergarten, because we all know we can’t have that time back! Then I worry about whether we did enough, did I expose them to the right things. And now I have one more at home. I’m trying to enjoy every minute of it!
Why as moms do we feel so guilty about everything, Tanya? Ugh. It’s so hard. All I can assume is that poke cake is the answer :)
Julianne @ Beyond Frosting says
now this is stinking cute! I have secretly been shopping for Halloween candy so I can start working on projects!
Isn’t Halloween baking the best???
Alana Reid says
Yes!
Monet says
Thank you for sharing such a sweet and funny and relatable story. And this cake? What a great way to get into the fall season. This looks delicious. So glad I found your blog!
Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl says
What a sweet story, Lisa. We went to all-day kindergarten last year – and it was WAY more emotional for me than it was for my kiddo. I took the day off work and basically bawled and wondered how those last 5 years went so fast. Kind of went through the same thing this year for first grade. I’ll probably still be doing it when he’s in high school and I don’t care.
And this cake? OMG – I just love it!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
Wow, all day right out of the gate??? Crazy! But you’ll be over the sadness soon, I promise. :) I love this poke cake. SO FREAKING MUCH!
He had half day K4 last year, but this feels SO DIFFERENT. What happened to my baby?!?!?!?!
Emily says
ooo so festive!! I love it…you are a master :o)
Thank’s Emily!!
Maria says
Oh my goodness, how cute!!! Love this idea for fall! So fun and festive! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks Maria!
Julie @White Lights on Wednesday says
Oh my goodness Lisa. How cute and fun is this cake?!? I think we’ll definitely need one for Halloween this year.
Thanks Julie!