Transform Pumpkin, Cool Whip, Cake Mix, And Toffee Bits Into This Simple Fall Dessert

As fall is in full swing, pumpkin is the star flavor of food and drink. And it's a wonder how many ways you can transform a can of pumpkin puree into everything from ravioli filling to fall-inspired brownies. If you're looking for the latest creative dessert creation to try on your next can of pumpkin puree, look no further than poke cake.

In a quick video from TikToker @Holmescooking, he demonstrates how to make a poke cake using pumpkin puree and vanilla cake mix as the cake foundation, and Cool Whip and toffee bits for the frosting and topping. Pumpkin puree replaces both eggs and oil in a standard store-bought cake mix, providing moisture and density. After baking the pumpkin-infused cake, you'll want to poke holes throughout the crumb, pouring sweetened condensed milk to bring even more moisture and dairy richness to the cake. The Cool Whip provides a light and fluffy contrast to the dense crumb of the poke cake, while the buttery toffee bits complement both the flavor of the pumpkin and provide some much needed crunch to round out the textural profile. After spreading the Cool Whip over the cake, you'll want to let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to overnight to soak up the condensed milk. This poke cake is a breeze to assemble, saves you eggs and oil, and provides yellow cake mix with a unique fall-inspired taste and moist, dense texture.

You can easily swap any of the foundational ingredients besides pumpkin puree for a customized version of a pumpkin poke cake. The easiest swap would be with your cake mix. Instead of a vanilla cake mix, a spice cake mix would really bring out the earthiness of the pumpkin puree. Cake mix, pumpkin puree, and Cool Whip are all dairy-free ingredients, and you can make a dairy-free poke cake for all your plant-based or lactose intolerant friends and family by replacing the toffee and sweetened condensed milk. Believe it or not, you can easily find plant-based sweetened condensed milk varieties with both oat and coconut bases. You can also make your own sweetened condensed milk by reducing your favorite plant-based milk with sugar over the stove. You can use chopped nuts or vegan bittersweet chocolate chunks instead of toffee to provide a similar crunch.

If you want to stick with dairy, you can still replace toffee with crushed butterscotch candies or butterscotch chips. Crushed ginger snap cookies would bring a spicy facet to pumpkin cake. A drizzle of salted caramel or chocolate sauce would also upgrade a pumpkin toffee cake. The earthy sweetness of pumpkin, like sweet potato casserole, would pair well with marshmallows. So, you could add a few dollops of marshmallow cream to the Cool Whip. You could also replace the Cool Whip altogether with store-bought cream cheese icing for a bit of tartness.

@holmescooking

Pumpkin toffee cake 1 box yellow cake mix 1 15oz can pumpkin purée 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 container koolwhip Optional toppings**** Carmel sundae sauce Toffee bits Graham crackers for toppinf Mix cake mix and pumpkin, bake at 350 for 23-26 mins or til toothpick test comes out clean Let cool on counter 5 mins, poke holes evenly spaced in entire cake with handle of a wooden spoon Cover cake with sweetened condensed milk as evenly as possible Refrigerate 30 mins to let set up Spread entire tub of whip topping over cake. Drizzle on all optional toppings and refrigerate 4hrs or overnight #pumpkincake #pokecake #easydessert #cake #dessertideas #recipes

♬ original sound – Holmescooking