Poke cakes are some of the best desserts to feed a crowd. There’s no icing, you don’t need a special pan, and they always turn out moist and flavorful thanks to the liquid that you pour over the cake after poking some holes in it. This particular poke cake has one of my all time favorite flavors in it: butterscotch. Then the whole thing is topped with toffee- another fave. It doesn’t get any better than this toffee butterscotch poke cake.
When I went to the grocery to get the ingredients my heart sank a bit when I got to the toppings section. They were out of my usual butterscotch sundae syrup. I had 2 choices, one was artificially flavored which I don’t love. So I got the only other option which was a bourbon butterscotch topping.
I honestly didn’t think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. But, I actually liked even more than the other kind I normally buy! If you want to add some depth and pizazz to this (already) incredible cake, then this is the way to do it. This happy fluke turned out to be a wonderful addition to this recipe for me. If you have the option at your supermarket for bourbon butterscotch syrup I highly recommend this substitution.
The base of the cake is a simple yellow box cake mix. After baking use a thick wooden spoon to poke a bunch of holes in the cake. You can also use the thick of end wooden chopsticks. Either way, you need to make a lot of them. When you think you’re done add some more.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (15.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (10 oz) jar butterscotch sundae syrup or ice cream topping
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (16 oz) tub Cool Whip (thawed)
- 1/2 cup toffee bits
- 1 (2 oz) package honey toasted peanuts, chopped
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Combine cake mix, eggs, water, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on high until uniform in color. Pour into a 9”x13” pan. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
- While cake is baking combine butterscotch and condensed milk until smooth. Using the end of a wooden spoon poke 75-80 holes in the warm cake, going almost to the bottom of the pan each time if possible. Pour butterscotch mixture over the warm cake, taking care each of the holes gets filled with sauce. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
- When ready to serve top spread Cool Whip over the entire cake in an even layer. Top with toffee pieces and chopped peanuts. Cut into 15-20 squares to serve. Keep refrigerated after making.