This delicious Apple Poke Cake with Dulce de Leche starts with a white cake mix that’s leveled up with a few additional spices and apple pie filling for a fall flavor. After it’s baked you will drizzle Dulce de Leche over the top and top with spiced whipped cream and nuts!
I have the most amazing poke cake recipe for you today: Apple Poke Cake! It’s the ultimate fall dessert made with vanilla cake mix, rich dulce de leche, sweet apple pie filling, and all the fall spices.
If you’ve never made a poke cake all you need to know is that it’s a super easy dessert to make and it is what it sounds like – in this case, an apple cake with holes poked in it! The holes allow you to fill it with delicious dulce de leche that soaks in and just takes the whole thing over the top.
This is just one of my favorite apple recipes to make during the fall and I think once you try it you’ll agree! Poke cakes are great for holidays, potlucks, or whenever you want to treat your family.
Ingredients
- Vanilla cake mix
- Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves
- Oil
- Water
- Eggs
- Apple pie filling
- Dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is basically sweetened condensed milk that has been cooked until it thickens, turns golden and takes on a caramelized flavor. You can make it yourself, but I usually just buy it premade at the store. It’s sold in cans and can usually be found in the baking aisle or in the Latin foods section.
Products Needed
How to Make Apple Poke Cake
- Whisk the cake mix with all of the spices in a bowl. Add the oil, water, and eggs and mix until combined. Fold in the pie filling.
- Pour the batter into a prepared baking dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for ten minutes and then poke holes in it with the handle of a wooden spoon. Space the holes about an inch apart and be careful not to poke the hole all the way through. Stop about halfway.
- Drizzle some of the dulce de leche over the top so it sinks into the holes. At this point, refrigerate it for a few hours before serving.
Spiced Whipped Cream Topping
You could serve it with just plain whipped cream, but the spiced whipped cream topping I use just gives the cake the finishing touch!
All you do is whip heavy cream with confectioner’s sugar and the same spices you used in the cake. Whip it until the mixture holds soft peaks and then spread it over the top of the cooled cake.
Drizzle more dulce de leche over the topping and sprinkle some chopped pecans over the top, too!
Poke Cake FAQs!
Yes, and I recommend that you do. You will want to fill the cake with the filling while it’s warm and then let it chill. This allows the filling to be absorbed.
So, plan to make it a few hours in advance so it has time to chill. You can also make it the night before and then add the topping before you serve it.
You can make your own or, if you can’t find it at the store, you can substitute caramel sauce. It’s not the same thing, but it’s similar and will taste good, too!
You can substitute chopped walnuts! Or, feel free to omit the nuts, too.
Store the leftovers in the refrigerator. Keep them covered and they will last for a couple of days.
Are you ready to give this dulce de leche apple poke cake a try this fall? I guarantee you won’t make it just once – it’s so good you’ll want it every time you’re craving a sweet fall treat!
More Dessert Recipes to Try!
- My ooey-gooey Dulce de Leche Snickerdoodle Bars are a decadent fall treat that’s great for potlucks and holidays!
- Gingerbread Poke Cake is another easy recipe that’s always a hit when I make it!
- You can never go wrong with a Classic Apple Pie and mine is so easy to make!
- My Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect dessert for fall!
- Tres Leche Cake is a rich, moist, milk-soaked cake that is easy to make and so delicious!
Did you try this recipe and love it? I’d love it if you’d give it a rating below and comment.
If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!!
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!
Apple Poke Cake with Dulce de Leche
Ingredients
Apple Spice Cake
- 15.25 oz box vanilla cake mix
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cloves
- 1/3 c. oil
- ½ c. water
- 3 eggs
- 1 c. apple pie filling homemade or store bought
- 1 ¼ c. Dulce de Leche homemade or store bought
Spiced Whipped Cream
- 1 ½ c. whipping cream
- ¼ c. confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- Pinch of cloves
Topping
- 1./4 c. chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cake mix with spices.
- Add in the eggs, water and oil and mix with a hand mixer until combined.
- Add the apple pie filling to the batter and fold in with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
- Remove the cake from the oven, cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- Using a straw or handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the cake halfway through (deep), about an inch apart.
- Drizzle 1 cup Dulce de Leche (reserve the other half of cup for topping) over the warm cake, making sure it goes into the holes.
- Leave the cake to cool completely. Can be put in the fridge at this point till ready to serve.
- When ready to serve cake, in a medium mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, whip the whipping cream, ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar and the spices until medium peaks form. Do not over whip.
- Spread whip cream immediately over the cooled cake, top with the remaining ¼ cup Dulce de Leche in desired pattern.
- Top with chopped pecans (optional) and serve.
Allison says
Easy and full of flavor. Our new fall go-to. Thanks for sharing!
Julie says
Perfect! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Pam Greer says
I love how easy this is!!! How you took a few ingredients that I almost always have in my pantry and turned them into this amazing cake!
Julie says
That is my goal! So glad you loved it!
Delores Wiese says
Sorry, I have never heard of dulce de leche. Where do I get it?
Julie Evink says
This is what it is – https://www.walmart.com/ip/LA-LECHERA-Dulce-de-Leche-Milk-Based-Caramel-13-4-oz-Can/10804329 and you can find it usually in the baking aisle by the sweetend condensed milk! If you can’t find it caramel would also work.