You’ll go bananas for this decadent dessert.
I do love a good poke cake. I found myself wondering what other desserts would taste great in poke cake form. And once I thought of that classic summer treat, the banana split, I knew I had to try it.
What makes banana splits so amazing is that they layer a whole bunch of different, delicious flavors into one bowl. There’s the split banana on the bottom…topped with three scoops of ice cream, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry…then chocolate or strawberry sauce…whipped cream…and finally, a cherry on top. So I knew my Banana Split Poke Cake had to pack in all these different flavors, too.
I started with a basic white cake (vanilla), and drizzled it with both chocolate and cherry syrups. Then, for the whipped cream, I spread on a creamy mixture of cream cheese and whipped topping. For the banana, I whipped up some instant banana pudding, mixed that with more whipped topping, and layered that over the top. The only flavor missing was strawberry, so I just added some fresh strawberries on top of the chilled cake, along with some banana slices. It’s everyone’s favorite ice cream treat – in a form that won’t melt.
How to make Banana Split Poke Cake
- Bake cake according to package instructions. Allow to partially cool on a wire rack.
Poke holes with a fork or wooden skewer.
- Pour chocolate syrup and cherry syrup over the holes in the cake.
- Cream together cream cheese with powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Mix in one tub of whipped topping. Spread this out over the cake.
- Mix together banana pudding mix with milk. Add the second container of whipped topping. Spread this over the top of the chocolate layer.
Refrigerate for at least an hour prior to serving. Top with strawberries and banana slices to garnish.
Looking for more free recipes? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Banana Split Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 white cake mix prepared as directed on package instructions
- 1/3 cup chocolate syrup
- 1/3 cup cherry syrup
- 2 (8 ouncpackages cream cheese softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 (3.4 ouncpackage banana pudding mix
- 2 8 ounctub whipped topping, thawed (divided
- 1 cup milk
- Strawberries and banana slices to garnish
Instructions
- Bake cake according to package instructions. Allow to partially cool on a wire rack.
- Poke holes with a fork or wooden skewer.
- Pour chocolate syrup and cherry syrup over the holes in the cake.
- Cream together cream cheese with powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Mix in one tub of whipped topping. Spread this out over the cake.
- Mix together banana pudding mix with milk. Add the second container of whipped topping. Spread this over the top of the chocolate layer.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour prior to serving. Top with strawberries and banana slices to garnish.
Save this recipe for later! Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your recipe box!
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Mary H in WV says
This is definitely one of the better Banana Split poke cakes I’ve made, but merely bc I love a good banana split so much- I improvised the flavors somewhat and, depending on your personal tastes, this one may be to your liking as well. I swapped the cherry syrup for strawberry syrup, added pineapple ice cream topping over the 2 syrups, then drizzled a thin wave of hot fudge sauce over the chilled Cool Whip lastly. Y-U-M-M-Y!
Corey says
So happy you loved the recipe Mary! I love the idea of using strawberry syrup!