Easy Christmas Red Velvet & Chocolate Poke Cake
Looking for the perfect dessert for a Christmas party?! This easy Christmas red velvet & chocolate poke cake is an easy recipe, it’s absolutely delicious, and it’s BEAUTIFUL!
You know what I have to say about Christmas Red Velvet Chocolate Poke Cake? You’re welcome.
Oh my heavens, this cake is DE-LI-CIOUS.
This traditional poke cake is dressed up for the Christmas season. It’s so easy to make, and look how beautiful it is! You don’t even have to try to make this cake look beautiful – just follow a few simple steps and you have a lovely, delicious cake.
Here’s what you’ll love about this Christmas poke cake recipe:
- This is a crowd favorite! – It’ll pretty easily serve 16-20 people (with decent helpings – no stingy helpings on this cake!), and everyone will rave over it!
- You can cheat and use a boxed cake mix for the red velvet cake if you prefer. (I rarely say this!) While I love this red velvet cake recipe – it was my Papa’s favorite – I think a boxed cake recipe will still taste homemade because of the decadent chocolate sauce & the homemade whipped topping.
- It’s pretty AND delish! It’s such a festive dessert – gorgeous enough for a special occasion, but casual enough that it doesn’t feel too fancy. 😉
Ingredients you’ll need for this:
I walk you through the specifics in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, but let me talk you through some of the elements of the cake:
For the cake:
- The cake just needs basic ingredients (plus red food coloring) – you probably already have all of them on hand! However, if you want to make the red velvet cake from a box, I do think you can get away with it for this recipe, but make sure not to skimp on the homemade chocolate sauce or the homemade whipped topping!
- If you do decide to use a box mix, just follow the box directions for the cake portion itself. Then come back and follow the recipe for the chocolate sauce & frosting.
For the chocolate sauce:
- 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
- Semisweet chocolate chips – these are going to melt into the sweetened condensed milk to produce an amazingly delicious sauce that makes a super moist red velvet cake!
For the whipped topping:
You’ll thank yourself for making this homemade. I promise. You just need some simple ingredients, the process is easy, and it’s so much better than Cool Whip!
- heavy cream
- powdered sugar
- unsweetened cocoa – to add just a little bit of chocolate flavor to the topping
- vanilla extract
- green food coloring (this is optional – you can just leave the topping white if you want!)
To sprinkle on at the end:
- 1/2 c mini chocolate chips
- Christmas sprinkles
How to make Christmas red velvet & chocolate poke cake:
Ready to make it?! Here are the steps of assembly after you make/bake the cake itself:
Step 1: Poke holes!
Once you’ve made the red velvet cake, take the handle of a wooden spoon (or something of a similar diameter) and poke the cake to create holes from top to bottom.
I tried to make mine as evenly spaced as possible, and I also tried to make sure to poke holes all the way up to the edges – you don’t want the people who receive an outside edge piece to get gypped on the chocolate that’s going to seep down into those holes!
Step 2: Make the chocolate sauce
Time for the homemade chocolate sauce!
Add the sweetened condensed milk & semisweet chocolate chips together (not the mini ones – we are saving those for topping) into a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the chips melt. This should take about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Step 3: Pour the chocolate sauce over the top of the cake
Mmmm – it’s going to sink into all of those poke holes and be SO GOOD.
Oh my gosh. Just can’t even describe how yummy this is.
Step 4: Allow the cake to cool & then place in the fridge
Once you’ve poured all of the chocolate sauce on top, allow the cake to cool completely and then place it in the fridge to allow it to chill. You probably need to plan for at least a couple of hours of chill time – you want the cake to be fairly cold before you add the whipped cream topping.
Step 5: Make the whipped topping
I’ve got specific instructions on how to make this in the recipe card, but the two things you need to know are: 1) You’ll want to have your mixer on high speed to make this, and 2) You don’t want to overmix the cream or else the whipped cream will become too hard to work with. You want to mix it just until you have stiff peaks in the cream!
Step 6: Add the whipped topping to the cake
Once the cake is chilled, spread that whipped cream frosting all over!
Make sure to get it all the way to the edges. It’s going to seem like a lot of frosting (and it is), but believe me, the ratio of cake to frosting is perfect.
If I’m making a 9″ x 13″ cake, I typically use my glass dish, but I use a different pan for this particular cake since it’s a little deeper and gives more room for the frosting to sit on top of the cake.
Step 7: Sprinkle on the toppings
BUT, wait until closer to serving time before you do. The whipped topping is somewhat fragile, so you don’t want to sprinkle things on too far ahead of time or else they’ll sink into the topping.
Store the cake in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it.
YUM! I can’t wait for you to enjoy this Christmas red velvet poke cake with your people! One bite of this delicious cake and you’re going to have everyone thanking you for making it! It may just become your Christmas Eve or Christmas Day tradition to make and serve up this cake. 😉
Merry Christmas to you & your family! I hope the season is full of blessings, joy, and gratitude for all of you!
Other poke cake recipes perfect for the holiday season:
- Super Moist Caramel Mocha Poke Cake – Oh my word. This is another delicious cake recipe that *might* just also become your favorite. Like, you might have to make 2 poke cakes for Christmas this year. 😆
- Apple Butter and Caramel Poke Cake – Ok, make it three. You might have to make 3 poke cakes, because this one is also SO GOOD.
I mean, poke cakes are just so great for any holiday party – everyone LOVES them and they feed a crowd, all with very little effort to make a big dessert.
Other Christmas dessert recipes you might like:
- Super Moist Chocolate Pistachio Christmas Bundt Cake – SUCH an easy Christmas cake! Made with pudding, it’s an incredibly moist cake with so much flavor, and it’ll take you like 5 minutes to throw together. It’s a beautiful and festive cake, too!
- Easy Pumpkin Praline Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Glaze – This easy pumpkin praline bundt cake, drizzled with a simple homemade cream cheese frosting glaze, is a perfect dessert for holiday gatherings! Such a beautiful, delicious, and outrageously moist cake, great for a crowd!
- Easy and Moist Mocha Butterscotch Bundt Cake – Also an easy cake to make! It looks fancy, tastes fancy, but is NOT fancy to make. 😜 It’s also a pudding cake, so it’s incredibly moist and packed with cozy flavors!
- SUPER MOIST Red Velvet Bundt Cake (with cake mix!) – You guessed it. This one is also so easy to make and it. is. DELISH.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2.5 c all-purpose flour
- 1.5 c granulated sugar
- 2 tsp cocoa
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp white distilled vinegar
- 2 c vegetable oil
- 4 tsp food coloring*
- 3 eggs
- 1 c buttermilk**
- 1 tsp vanilla
For the chocolate sauce:
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 c semisweet chocolate chips
For the whipped topping:
- 2 c heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- green food coloring (optional - you can keep it white!)
- 1/2 c mini chocolate chips
- Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Mix dry ingredients for cake (flour, granulated sugar, 2 tsp cocoa, soda, salt) together.
- In a separate bowl, mix the oil and eggs together, beating the eggs with a fork.
- Add eggs and oil to dry mixture and blend together (you can do this by hand, but I always do this with my stand mixer).
- Add buttermilk to the batter a little at a time, blending the batter between additions.
- Add food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla and mix until batter is well-blended.
- Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, pour sweetened condensed milk and 1 c milk chocolate chips into a small sauce pan. Place on stove over medium heat.
- Stirring regularly, allow the chocolate chips to melt in the sweetened condensed milk and stir regularly until the two create a chocolate sauce - just a few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Once the cake comes out of the oven, allow it to cool for about 10-15 minutes. Use the handle of a wooden spoon (or something of similar diameter) to poke holes in the cake. Try to evenly space the holes and make sure you poke holes all the way to the edges of the cake.
- Pour the chocolate sauce all over the red velvet cake and spread with a spatula.
- Set cake aside and allow it to fully cool. Place it in the refrigerator until it chills (at least an hour or two, or even overnight).
- To make the frosting, add heavy cream, powdered sugar, 2 tsp cocoa, and vanilla into a bowl. Using a stand or a hand mixer, beat those ingredients until stiff peaks form in the cream - probably at least 5 minutes. Once your frosting has reached your desired consistency, drop in green food coloring and mix until you're pleased with the shade of green.
- Spread frosting evenly over top of chilled cake and sprinkle on chocolate chips and Christmas sprinkles. Serve immediately or return cake to the fridge and serve at a later time!
Is 2 cups of vegetable oil correct?
Hi Debra – sorry I’m just now responding to your comment! I took a break and unplugged for the holidays, so I haven’t been on my blog for a while. Did you make the cake? How did it turn out? Yes, it’s 2 cups – the recipe is from my Granny! 🙂
This popped up a couple weeks ago, and I sent it to my mom as a subtle hint that maybe it could be made as a birthday cake. She made it, and it is every bit as delicious as I hoped. So decadent and rich. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay!! I’m so glad y’all liked it! 🙂 I can’t wait to make it again soon…it’s almost that time of year again!
Oh my goodness, looks delicious.
It definitely, definitely is! I’ll make it for a potluck! 🙂