Black Forest Poke Cake

Black Forest Poke Cake is a rich chocolate fudge cake. This chocolate cherry torte will melt in your mouth as you savor every gooey fudge filled bite.

 It was an unbelievable experience to partner with Princess Cruises for this post and share my experience and inspired recipe. All opinions expressed our my own.

I have never been much of a cherry fan. The only thing that I really ever liked with cherries were Shirley Temples, the infamous kiddie drink. That was until I cruised along the Mexican Riveria aboard the Ruby Princess.

You see, I love chocolate. Obsessed with it is more like it. I am all for anything that is covered, drenched, or soaked in any sort of chocolate sauce or shell. Naturally when I hit up the Internal Cafe aboard the cruise and saw the chocolate cake, I was beyond excited. I had planned to hit this place up multiple times a day, but sadly and well, thankfully, this cake wasn’t featured all the time. Had it been there every day – every hour – I’m not sure I would have been able to fit into my evening attire.

Chocolate was not hard to come by on the Ruby Princess. Yet another reason this cruise was a dream. The night of the chef’s tasting we had the most amazing chocolate spread. One my daughters would have gushed for years, just because of the chocolate high-heel.

When I came home and started dreaming of chocolate cake, I knew I had to make a similar one. That is when I got out the cookbook that Princess Cruises gave us. The book is called Courses – A Culinary Journey. In this cookbook there is a recipe for Black Forest Gateau that was calling my name. As I read over the recipe, I knew I was going to have to simplify, like a lot, to be able to throw something together for dessert that night. I was inspired by this Black Forest Gateau and just went with the first thing that came to mind…a poke cake. 

Poke cakes are never dry and are always a crowd-pleaser, so I took a simple Devil’s Food Cake, poked holes, and added in my homemade Best Ever Hot Fudge Sauce. Top that with some amazing cherry pie filling and whipped cream. Of course, I garnished with some chocolate shavings, just adding to this already chocolate a la mode dream.

I continue to dream about my time on the Ruby Princess and the warm breeze brushing up against my face as I sat on my balcony and ate chocolate cake. I now know that I can make something just as good, this Black Forest Poke Cake. As for me and cherries, we now have a love (not hate) relationship. XOXO San

Want to read more of my Ruby Princess trip along the Mexican Riveria? Be sure to check out my Foodie Tour: Ruby Princess and my recipe for Ruby Princess Nojito.

How do you make Black Forest Poke Cake?

• Prepare & bake cake according to package directions.
• Once cake is completely cooked, remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes.
• While cake is cooling make the fudge sauce (recipe here).
• Then using the end of a spatula or wooden spoon poke holes into the warm cake. Pour the hot fudge sauce on top of the cake, allowing it to absorb in the cake. Set cake in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• Remove cake and evenly spread the cherry pie filling on top of the cake.
• “Frost” the cake with the whipped cream. Garnish with chocolate shavings.
• Serve immediately or my favorite way is to set this in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours and then serve.
• Store the leftovers, if any, in the refrigerator.

Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board for later.