you're making mealtime meaningful.
While Reese’s peanut butter cups and coffee may not seem like the most obvious combination for a dessert, we promise you that flavor-wise it makes a lot of sense. The espresso powder brings out the chocolate flavor so it’s deeper and richer and the peanut butter contrasts beautifully with its creamy and salty nature. The three flavors play together so nicely. And poke cakes are all about layered flavor, so this Reese’s Coffee Poke Cake is a dream come true.
If you haven’t made one before, a poke cake is a sheet cake that you poke holes into before layering it with pudding or jello mix or some sort of flavored delight that will drip down into those holes and permeate the whole cake with another layer of amazing flavor. You top that with some frosting or whipped cream or whatever your heart desires, and just like that you have one easy and amazing dessert to dish up.
We’ve used boxed cake mix here to keep things easy and reliable and the pudding layer that drips down into the holes of the baked cake is a scrumptious combination of peanut butter and chocolate pudding. A layer of melted chocolate is poured over the top, and once that hardens it provides a nice bite against the soft crumb of the cake below. A layer of creamy whipped topping and a sprinkle of chopped peanut butter cups brings the whole thing to new heights of dessert nirvana. This cake is an absolute show stopper. You’ve got to give it a try!
Reese's Coffee Poke Cake
Yield(s): Serves 10-12
45 minutes active, 4 hours inactive
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Ingredients
- 1 box chocolate fudge cake mix, plus ingredients listed on box
- 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder, divided
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 box chocolate fudge instant pudding
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz Cool Whip
- 12 Reese's peanut butter cups, quartered
- additional espresso powder, to garnish
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Prepare cake mix according to package instructions, stirring in 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder until well-combined. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes all over the cake.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, peanut butter, and instant pudding until just combined. Pour pudding mixture evenly over cake, pressing it down into the holes. Chill cake for 4 hours.
- Once chilled, microwave 2 cups chocolate chips, heavy cream, and 1 tablespoon of espresso powder in 30-second intervals until melted, stirring in between. Pour chocolate mixture over cake and chill again until chocolate has set.
- Once set, spread Cool Whip over the chocolate layer and garnish with quartered Reese's peanut butter cups and instant espresso powder. Serve and enjoy!