"Pin"-Spiration: Banana Pudding Poke Cake

If there are any two things I love most in this world, it's banana pudding...and cake. If I can't have cake for dessert, somebody BETTER be serving me some banana pudding! Preferably with light bananas and EXTRA Nilla wafers! It's THAT serious. Can you imagine how my tastebuds watered when I saw this Pinterest Pin for a banana poke cake the other day?

The recipe and source

Holy lover of God. Banana pudding...and cake? *breaks down in happy fat girl dance*

I knew I had to make this. I just KNEW. So Saturday, I headed to my favorite store, Kroger, and got all the ingredients to make it, and on Sunday...I did...and enjoyed it. Maybe too much! I actually made it a point to take pictures during the entire process of making this dish, so today, I'm gonna do "Pin"-Spiration a little different today and actually show you the step by step process of what I did. Ok? Here we go.

First up...the ingredients

Yes...I love some Kroger, and yes...I'm all for the generic brand!

For this recipe you will need: 1 Boxed Yellow Cake Mix (and all the ingredients needed to make it), 20 Vanilla Wafers, 2 small boxes of instant banana pudding (for my preference, I substituted one banana pudding for vanilla), and one container of whipped topping.

Prepare yellow cake mix per directions on box

When I make box cake, I prepare it differently. I always add one extra egg, substitute milk for water, and melted butter for oil. With the melted butter, I double the amount. It gives the cake more of a richer texture. I saw this tip on Pinterest a few months ago, and have been making it this way ever since.  

Bake cake according box directions and once done, let it cool for a few minutes.

After it is cooled a bit, use a round ended object to poke holes in cake. I used the tip of my knife sharpener to do this. The recipe recommends to make sure that the holes go all the way to the bottom of the cake, so that the pudding will sink deep into the cake.

Prepare pudding according to box directions

Now this is where I went wrong. I prepared my pudding too early in advance. You will see why this made a difference shortly.

Pour pudding over cake. Pudding should still be in liquid form.

You probably can't tell, but this is the effect of me making the pudding too early. By the time I was supposed to pour it over my cake, it had already began to firm. As a result, my pudding did not travel all the way to the bottom of the cake, it just sat on top. Oh well...lesson learned for next time!

Place cake in the fridge until it completely cools. Once it does, cover with whipped topping.

At this point, if you haven't already, crush the cookies. I did as the recipe suggested and put them in a ziplock bag and crushed them with a rolling pin.

...and HERE is the FINISHED PRODUCT!

Notice there is no pudding going through the cake

You can choose to cover your entire cake with the Nilla wafters, or sprinkle them on by the slice when it is time to eat. I like the crunchy texture of the cookies on top and didn't want them soggy, so I put them on right before I eat a slice.  The recipe also calls for a slice or two of bananas on the side. I didn't have any so I used strawberries.

My Review: This cake is soooo delish and soooo easy to make. Despite my little mishap with the pudding. The cake still turned out great and was so good. Definitely a must try for any banana pudding and cake lover like me!

What are some of your favorite easy to prepare desserts? I would love for you to share!

If you haven't done so yet, don't forget to follow me over on Pinterest right here! We have tons of fun over there without barely saying a word. *smile*

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! It's my class reunion Saturday, so I will be SUPER busy preparing for that and most importantly having a great time! See you on "Motivational Monday"!

Ok, Bye!