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Chocolate Cherry Cake is rich and moist and tastes just like biting into a luscious cherry chocolate candy. The perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day!
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Chocolate Cherry Cake is a delightfully rich and flavorful twist on a classic poke cake. Fudgy chocolate cake drizzled with cherry gelatin and topped with a creamy pudding frosting, this cake is best served chilled with a glass of ice cold milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s so easy to put together, yet tastes like an Old Fashioned Chocolate Covered Cherries treat! This chocolate cherry cake recipe is a fun way to get kids involved in the kitchen too; my kids love to poke holes over the top with the end of a wooden spoon. Top with the most decadent chocolate frosting and even a little whipping cream. Read on to find out how to make this luscious dessert for yourself.
Ingredients in this Cherry Chocolate Poke Cake Recipe
- 1 box Cake Mix (Devil’s Food) or our Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix
- Vegetable oil – about half cup vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Mini chocolate chips
- Cherry instant Jell-o mix – this gives the cake nice cherry flavor; not too overpowering but a really tasty cherry chocolate cake.
- Chocolate Jell-o instant pudding mix
- milk – 2% or whole
- Maraschino cherries
- Cooking spray
If you make the chocolate cake batter from scratch you will also need:
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Large eggs
- Cocoa powder
- Vanilla extract or almond extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
Best Cake Mix to Use in Chocolate Cherry Cake
For this recipe, we love using a devil’s food cake mix, to give it that extra fudgy texture and flavor. However any other boxed cake mix will work just fine, not just devils food cake. Just dump all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to incorporate all that rich chocolate flavor. You could also make the cake mix from scratch using our recipe for Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe.
How to Make Pudding Frosting
My very favorite part of this decadent chocolate poke cake recipe is the thick, creamy pudding frosting. Trust me, you’ve never tasted anything so velvety and rich! It’s like a chocolate buttercream but even richer than any buttercream frosting I’ve ever tasted. There are a couple of tips to making this the sweetest frosting ever:
- You’ll notice in the recipe card below, we use less milk than called for on the pudding box instructions. Using a bit less milk makes the pudding thicker, therefore allowing it to hold its consistency better when spread on the 9×13 cake.
- Use at least 2% milk, preferably whole milk. This makes the instant chocolate pudding thicker and much creamier. It is so worth the few extra calories, I promise!
- Garnish the cake with a sprinkle of mini dark chocolate chips and maraschino cherries or fresh cherries just before serving. I also like to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dusting of powdered sugar, whipped cream or homemade whipped topping made with heavy cream.
- You can also drizzle the cake with caramel sauce, chocolate sauce or hot fudge sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, definitely! It is one of my favorite flavor combinations and a common pairing for bakers, pastry chefs and candy makers.
No! Drizzling the hot gelatin mixture over the chocolate cake will allow for extra moisture, sure, but it won’t get soggy. The Jell-O sets up quickly while the cake chills in the refrigerator and creates a layer of flavor that is out of this world!
This chocolate cherry cake is so easy to make ahead. Because it needs to stay refrigerated, you can make it up to three days in advance and keep in the fridge until serving time.
It’s best to freeze this chocolate cake after adding the Jell-O, but before topping it with the pudding frosting. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and store for up to a month in the freezer. When you’re ready to serve, remove from the freezer and allow it to thaw in the fridge. Then frost as instructed.
Open the oven door but don’t remove the cake. If the center of the cake feels firm or a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean you are good to take it out.
You could do a chocolate glaze or chocolate ganache on the top instead of the pudding.
READ NEXT: Easy Dessert Ideas
Variations on Poke Cake
We’ve tried many poke cake recipes over the years. The combinations of cake flavors, Jell-O gelatin and Jell-O pudding are endless! Here are a few of our favorites:
- Raspberry Lemon Poke Cake
- Pina Colada Poke Cake
- Patriotic Poke Cake
- Pumpkin Poke Cake
- Chocolate Pudding Cake
More Decadent Chocolate Cakes
While we’re on the subject of chocolate, try some of our other divinely rich chocolaty cakes. Romantic dinners topped with a sinfully sweet slice of cake? Your sweetheart will thank you!
- Ridiculously Delicious Chocolate Cake
- Slow Cooker Molten Chocolate and Caramel Cake
- Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake
- Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Nothing Bundt Cake Copycat
How to make Chocolate Cherry Cake
Chocolate Cherry Cake
Equipment
- 9×13 Cake Pan
- Electric Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 box Cake Mix (Devil's Food)
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup oil
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 (3 ounce) box cherry instant Jell-o mix
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup ice cold water
- 2 3.4 (3.4 ounce) box chocolate Jell-o instant pudding mix
- 3 cups milk 2% or whole
- 12 Maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Mix cake mix, water, oil, and eggs well. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Pour mix into a greased 9×13 pan and bake according to package directions.
- Let cake cool completely – about 1 hour. Using a fork, poke small holes all over the top of the cake.
- Boil 1 cup water in a small saucepan and pour into a small bowl. Add cherry Jell-o mix and stir with a whisk until Jell-o is completely dissolved. Add cold water and stir.
- Pour the hot Jell-o mixture over the cake. Try to drizzle it over evenly. Cover and refrigerate cake for 2 hours.
- While cake is in the refrigerator, mix the chocolate pudding mixes with 3 cups milk (2% or whole). Blend until pudding is completely dissolved. Refrigerate pudding for at least 1 hour.
- Frost the cake with the pudding and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
- Garnish the cake with mini chocolate chips and maraschino cherries just before serving.
Video
Notes
Recipe Tips
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- You’ll notice in the recipe card below, we use less milk than called for on the pudding box instructions. Using a bit less milk makes the pudding thicker, therefore allowing it to hold its consistency better when spread on the cake.
-
- Use at least 2% milk, preferably whole milk. This makes the pudding thicker and much creamier. It is so worth the few extra calories, I promise!
- Garnish the cake with mini chocolate chips and maraschino cherries just before serving. I also like to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Hi only the cook and serve jello instant pudding comes in 3.4 oz. The instant comes in 3.9 oz boxes. Should I just use two 3.9 oz of the instant or should I measure each box out to 3.4? Sorry if this is confusing!
Yes, 3.9 oz will work perfectly. It is weird because I feel like this has changed recently but JUST on the chocolate boxes. I don’t know if they changed the recipe or what but for some reason the chocolate pudding is 3.9 oz but vanilla or lemon, etc… are still 3.4 ounces Anyway, 3.9 will be fine. 🙂
My family ended up loving this. Even my mom who claims to not like chocolate cake or anything cherry flavored, ha! It’s so cute looking with the cherries and chocolate chips on top and it stayed moist and I now think every cake should be topped with pudding. So good. Thank you!
It seems the recipe is missing a step. You mix the jello, then…. it skips to put cake in fridge. I see in the FAQ section something about sprinkling the gelatin – do you have an approximation how much to use? I imagine you sprinkle it over the fork holes then refrigerate. I’m a newbie to poke cakes. Thanks!
Thank you for catching that! I updated the recipe to reflect the correct steps. You drizzle the hot jell-o mixture over the cake!
How many cupcakes should we make about if we want to substitute like that
I’m guessing about 30 cupcakes!
This cake was amazing. So easy to make.
Loved this yummy chocolate cake. Really easy to make too. I’ll hold on to this one for the future.
This is such a great chocolate cake!! So yummy!
Oh my, this cake looks incredible!! I would LOVE a slice right now!! YUM!
Would this work with cupcakes in place of the 9 x 13 pan? If so, how many holes should I make in each cupcake? Thank you in advance for your help! 🙂
Yes! I would just do 3 to 4 holes in each one.
Can’t you add the cherry jello powder into the cake mix prior to baking? This would save a step and time, I would think.
We have never done it that way– so it may work! Let us know how it turns out!
I substituted one egg using the devil’s food box cake mix directions and added 1/4 cup of cherry pie filling. Then I blended everything together with a mixer for 2 minutes. My cupcakes came out moist and had that delicious cherry flavor.