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Culinary

What Is a Pudding Cake?

By Donna Johnson
Updated May 17, 2024
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As its name implies, a pudding cake is a cake that contains pudding, either as an ingredient in the batter or as a topping. It is a very simple and versatile dessert. Typically, instant pudding is recommended for these recipes, which makes it not only easy to make, but also very quick.

A pudding cake can be baked using dry pudding mix only rather than prepared pudding. The mix combines very well with the dry ingredients for a homemade cake baked from scratch, and results in a very moist finished dessert. Cooks who are pressed for time or not the most comfortable in the kitchen can also add pudding mix to a boxed cake mix. The pudding and cake may be the same flavor, but flavor combinations, such as yellow cake with chocolate pudding or chocolate cake with vanilla pudding, may make for a more interesting treat.

Another very simple yet delicious type of pudding cake is the poke cake. This dessert starts with a baked cake, which may be made from scratch or from a mix. A thin pudding sauce is prepared just before the cake is ready to come out of the oven. After the cake is done, the baker must immediately poke several holes into the cake with a wooden spoon handle or other utensil, giving the cake its name. When the pudding is poured over the top of the cake, it will run down into the holes, spreading the pudding flavor throughout the entire cake.

Pudding may also be used as a cake topping before the cake is baked. In these pudding cake recipes, the prepared batter is poured into the pan first, followed by the prepared pudding. The baker should take care not to extend the pudding layer to the edges of the pan. A margin of approximately half an inch (1.27 cm) should be left all around the pudding.

A quick and easy pudding cake can be a gooey and delicious alternative to other rich desserts like brownies. Ice cream, whipped topping or fresh fruits can be served with different varieties of this treat, depending on the pudding flavor used and the time of year. This dessert is very versatile, so it can be fun to experiment with various preparations and flavors.

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Discussion Comments

By Lostnfound — On Jul 30, 2014

And then there's the dessert "cake" that uses pudding. I'm thinking of several recipes. Some recipes use a layer of cake, like a jellyroll and layer pudding and whipped cream on top. Some recipes use a cookie crust, then have pudding and whipped cream. Some may even use a crust made from crushed pretzels and melted butter and the pudding and whipped cream go on top of that. There are a lot of different recipes.

Lemon pudding cakes are also pretty popular. They use lemon pudding in the batter, along with a lot of lemon juice and lemon zest, too. They're good.

By Grivusangel — On Jul 29, 2014

I have a pudding cake recipe that uses instant pudding and sour cream, along with cake mix. It's one of the best cakes I've ever had. The chocolate version is to die for.

A pudding cake usually has a nice, moist top that is great for a glaze of some kind. The cake I'm thinking about also has chocolate chips and chopped pecans in the batter. I've never brought back much when I took it somewhere. It always seems to disappear in a hurry.

The tunnel of fudge cake has a pudding like filling in the middle when it finishes baking. Those are really good cakes, too. They're fun to make, too.

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