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Christmas Red Velvet Chocolate Poke Cake

4.53 from 48 votes
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Prep Time: 3 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Time: 4 hours 57 minutes
Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 16 -20 slices
Author: The American Patriette

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!

Notes

*My Granny's recipe calls for 1/4 c of red food coloring, but I didn't have that much on hand when I was baking the cake for this post. If you want your cake to have a deeper, richer shade of red, add more food coloring than what I suggest (more than 4 tsp). [br]**If you don't have 1 c of buttermilk on hand, you can make it by filling a 1-cup measuring cup almost all the way to the top with regular cow's milk (I used whole milk), and then top it off with white distilled vinegar (maybe a teaspoon or two of vinegar). Allow it to sit for a few minutes to curdle. I always make my own buttermilk - I never have regular buttermilk in my fridge!