Red Velvet Poke Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Poke cakes get their name because after baking you poke holes in the cake and drizzle in sweetened condensed milk and sometimes caramel sauce, but with this one I just used sweetened condensed milk. I’ve made plenty of others including chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, pumpkin, smores, turtle, and more.

The tangy cream cheese frosting perfectly complements the red velvet flavor as do the mini chocolate chips.
A bit of food trivia is that scratch red velvet cake starts out similar to a chocolate cake in that you add cocoa powder (not as much as a chocolate cake has) plus red food coloring. Since there’s already a subtle chocolate vibe in red velvet, the chocolate chips enhance it. The chips also add a perfect amount of texture to this otherwise soft, decadent, and very easy cake.

INGREDIENTS:

• one 16.25-ounce box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines but you can probably double this cupcake recipe although I haven’t tested it)
• one 14-ounce can sweetend condensed milk
• one-and-a-half to two 14-ounce tubs whipped cream cheese frosting OR make scratch frosting using the ingredients below
• 8 ounces brick-style cream cheese, softened (lite okay)
• 1/4 cup (half of 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• about 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer mini but regular size may be substituted)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13-inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
2. Make cake according to package directions (likely adding 3 eggs, water, and oil) and bake as directed (likely about 25 to 28 minutes).
3. Remove cake from the oven when it’s done, allow it to cool for about 5 minutes, and then using the blunt end of a wooden spoon, poke holes over the surface of the cake. I didn’t count but I estimate I poked about 60 holes, evenly spaced over the surface.
4. Slowly pour the sweetened condensed milk mixture over the holes, taking your time to evenly distribute it so that all the holes receive some; place cake in fridge to cool for at least 10 minutes while you make the frosting or before adding canned frosting so it doesn’t melt.
5. .................................

for full instruction please see : www.averiecooks.com

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