Cotton Candy Poke Cake

This cotton candy poke cake has a light cotton candy flavor. It’s an easy cake recipe with a colorful white chocolate pudding and whipped cream topping, all topped off with even more cotton candy. Kids will love this fun cake and it’s a simple, yet perfect cake for birthday parties.

Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!

When I was little, my mom used to read me this Raggedy Ann and Andy book. It was one of my favorites. In this particular book, Raggedy Ann and Andy went to a carnival where they ate tons of hot dogs and cotton candy.

Well, they ate so much that by the end of the book, they got sick. Now, to me, I couldn’t imagine ever eating so much cotton candy that it would make me sick. Never.

I think the moral of this book was supposed to be to not eat too much candy (or something like that) but obviously it did not have the intended effect on me.

All I could do was think about cotton candy. Every time we went anywhere, if they happened to have some, that’s what I wanted. I think that book just created a monster.

Since spring was coming up and with all the pretty pastel colors everywhere, I decided what better way to celebrate that than by combining my love of cotton candy with cake. Sounds like a good reason, right?

This cake’s got a light cotton candy flavor plus a colorful white chocolate pudding soaked in, then topped with cool whip and cotton candy. Cuz who says you can’t cover an entire cake with cotton candy?

This cotton candy poke cake is really super simple. No, seriously it really is. The kids can put it together…and they’ll love it.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS IN THE COTTON CANDY POKE CAKE:

Cotton Candy Flavoring: The cotton candy flavor in the cake comes compliments of Lorann’s Cotton Candy Flavoring, which you can find here: Cotton Candy Flavoring You don’t use much, just about a ¼ to ½ teaspoon.

White Cake Mix: This is the best flavor choice for making this cake. It doesn’t compete with the cotton candy flavoring. If you want to make this a scratch cake, you can try my white cake recipe here: Moist White Cake

Instant Pudding Mix: You can use either white chocolate pudding mix, or vanilla mix. I prefer the white chocolate though because the color of it doesn’t mess with the added food coloring you’re going to add.

Cotton Candy: This is what makes the cake so pretty and fun! You can get any kind of cotton candy you want, but here’s an option for you: Cotton Candy

Mixing Method for the Cotton Candy Poke Cake & Putting It Together:

This cake is super easy, since it’s a cake mix based recipe, so the mixing method is not complicated.

Since this is a poke cake, you’ll need to watch your timing a bit, so once it’s baked, you’ll only need to let it sit for about 5 – 10 minutes. While it’s sitting, you’ll make your pudding mixture, add colors and stir just until marbled.

You don’t want your pudding to set up, so do this right before you pour it over your warm cake.

Next you’ll poke holes in your cake with the end of a wooden spoon and pour over your pudding mixture. Chill for an hour, then cover with cool whip and cotton candy. 

TIPS & FAQs FOR THE COTTON CANDY POKE CAKE:

Items & Tools Used to Make the Cotton Candy Cake:

• KitchenAid Mixer
• Flat Beater Attachment
• Cotton Candy Flavoring
• 13×9 inch glass pan
• Cotton Candy

Ok let’s get to the recipe!

***I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are used to seeing and using. For weight in metric measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s a best guess. Please note that because I develop recipes using ‘cups’ I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results.

Recipe:

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