Rolo Poke Cake
This Rolo Poke Cake is a delicious chocolate and caramel taste explosion with caramel sauce and a chocolate drizzle. This is a poke cake for the record books!
While this is one fantastic cake, some tastes or occasions call for something of a different variety. For those times, don’t forget to try this Strawberry Jello Poke Cake Recipe, and this super yummy Homemade Carrot Cake!
It never fails. Each September my oldest daughter makes a request for her birthday treat. Years ago it was 6 layers of princess castle and related grandious cakes, but in recent years her requests are more specific to specific flavours.
One example is the Root Beer Cupcakes made to celebrate her birthday last year, and so many other cakes and cupcakes which were featured here year after year.
A few days prior to her September 2017 birthday party she decided a chocolate bar was the featured for this years dessert, and went back and forth on which particular one.
Finally she settled on Rolo – and Rolo Poke Cake was made to celebrate her 13th birthday. It was a hard choice between this and Easy Lemon Poke Cake.
Let me tell you, it was once again a birthday dessert for the record books.
If you recall, earlier this summer I scored a great deal on box cake mix, so while I could have made this cake by scratch – I wanted to start using them up.
I’m never one to knock box cake mix, because when paired with the right frosting and flavours – you just can’t beat the taste and convenience. Moist, fluffy and delicious! Another cake mix recipe is our Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies.
For this recipe I decided to make my own caramel sauce to pour into the cake holes, the star feature of poke cakes.
Since Rolo is all about chocolate and caramel, I thought this would be a nice touch.
Ingredients and Notes
You’ll need the following simple ingredients to make this poke cake recipe. The full detailed instructions are on the printable recipe card below.
- sweetened condensed milk
- box cake mix
- whipped topping
- Rolo pieces
- milk
- cocoa powder
- sugar
- butter
How to Make Rolo Poke Cake
FOR CARAMEL FILLER:
You can make the caramel ahead of time so that it’s ready when it comes time to make this poke cake.
- Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Place the can of sweetened condensed milk, unopened, in the boiling water. Cover and let simmer 2-3 hours, topping off water as needed so the can is always completely immersed.
- Turn the can every half hour to prevent scorching. Allow the can to cool a bit before opening carefully, open can and serve.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE HOT FUDGE:
- Whisk together sugar and cocoa in a medium saucepan and add the milk and butter.
- Cook over medium-low heat until it comes to a boil. Continue boiling for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool some before drizzling.
FOR CAKE:
- Bake 1 box cake mix in a 9×13″ pan, as per package instructions.
- Once the cake is done and still warm, poke holes into the cake using the end of a wooden spoon
- Pour the warm caramel sauce onto the cake, filling all the holes. For frosting and serving, it’s best if the caramel sauce has set and thickened a bit, so you can put the cake into the refrigerator for a bit at this time.
- Spread whipped topping over the cake and sprinkle Rolo bits onto the top
- Drizzle top of cake with the chocolate hot fudge sauce
- Serve and enjoy!
How to make caramel sauce without cream
There’s a few ways to make caramel sauce, but again convenience was key – so I made it with just sweetened condensed milk.
Did you know that simmering the can for a couple of hours {yes, the entire intact can}, makes caramel sauce?
It’s so delicious and simple that I’m tempted to always have a ready-made can on hand for when the need calls.
Now all this Rolo cake needed was a light whipped topping and chocolate hot fudge sauce to drizzle on top. Don’t forget the Rolo pieces!
So this cake takes a few steps to make and some pre-planning to make the caramel sauce – but it’s simple to piece together.
This poke cake recipe – a chocolate and caramel taste explosion, people!
If you love easy cake recipes, our peach desserts with canned peaches is a must-try!
Storage:
If you have poke cake leftovers, store in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Enjoy is rolo dessert recipe and make sure to try our other poke cake recipes. For instance, this Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake is truly amazing!
More Poke Cake Recipes
If you’ve tried this Rolo Poke Cake or any other recipe on my blog please let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Finally, consider leaving a 🌟 star rating while you’re here. Thanks!
Rolo Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 box cake mix
- 2-3 cups whipped topping
- 12 Rolo pieces (quartered)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
Instructions
FOR CARAMEL FILLER:
- You can make the caramel ahead of time so that it’s ready when it comes time to make this poke cake. To make, fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Place the can of sweetened condensed milk, unopened, in the boiling water. Cover and let simmer 2-3 hours, topping off water as needed so the can is always completely immersed. Turn the can every half hour to prevent scorching. Allow the can to cool a bit before opening carefully, open can and serve.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE HOT FUDGE:
- Whisk together sugar and cocoa in a medium saucepan and add the milk and butter. Cook over medium-low heat until it comes to a boil. Continue boiling for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow to cool some before drizzling.
FOR CAKE:
- Bake 1 box cake mix in a 9×13" pan, as per package instructions.
- Once the cake is done and still warm, poke holes into the cake using the end of a wooden spoon
- Pour the warm caramel sauce onto the cake, filling all the holes. For frosting and serving, it’s best if the caramel sauce has set and thickened a bit, so you can put the cake into the refrigerator for a bit at this time.
- Spread whipped topping over the cake and sprinkle Rolo bits onto the top
- Drizzle top of cake with the chocolate hot fudge sauce
- Serve and enjoy!
This is a great recipe — very rich. I was a little suspicious about boiling the can of sweetened condensed milk, but it turned out great! My co-workers loved it!
You need to try the pecan cake and put skor pieces in the holes with the condensed milk then whatever topping. Soooooo good.
OH GEEZ that looks delicious! We are going to have to try this one for sure.
This looks insanely delicious!
This recipe is surely on my save list 🙂 it sounds delicious and simple to make and I know my kids will go nuts …next family meal guess whats for desert ..mmmmmmmmm TY Tammi love your recipes ..simple yet they are awesome
This looks fantastic. We usually have a chocolate based dessert at christmas maybe I’ll make this this year!
Every time i this recipe it make me hungry for a treat
This cake looks so delicious and for a chocolate lover like me, this is perfect. I would love to make this for the holidays.
This sounds so awesome, I could go for a giant piece right now!!
This is all kinds of yes! The combination of chocolate and caramel is always good!
Decadence is what I see 🙂 I love using box cake mixes and adding to them too. In fact tomorrow I am making Spice Cake Mix with can pumpkin instead of the oil etc as instructed…cupcakes. Love the easy of this recipe 🙂 but I’m worried since I have no will power I will eat the whole thing ;( lol