This make-ahead chocolate poke cake tastes better with time
Food writer and queer food activist Justin Burke has reinvigorated our love for all things retro with 75 treats in “Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share with Pride” (Countryman Press, 2025). Sheet cake, blondie, icebox cake and dump cake recipes use familiar and easy-to-find ingredients. The book offers expert tips from Burke’s career as a professional pastry chef. Also included are stories of Burke’s chosen family who shaped him and encouraged his mission to make baking comfortable and accessible for all.
Easy potluck dessert recipes made with pantry ingredients
Burke organizes chapters in “Potluck Desserts” by bakeware to make it easier for the reader to decide what to make. You won’t dive into a project only to find out you don’t own a Bundt pan, or the right size of baking sheet.
The recipes are very straightforward, with many ingredients you probably have in the pantry, or can be easily found in most grocery stores. In one chapter, Burke shares his unique perspective about using boxed mixes in many of his recipes:
“Boxed mixes are ingredients with a purpose at home and in a professional kitchen. They’re not lazy or lowbrow; it’s all about perspective. They’re like the queer folks at a potluck — often underestimated but bringing their unique flavor to the table.”
There is a timing sticker on each recipe stating whether they’re a quick 30 minutes or less, an hour or so, or better made the night before. For this chocolate poke recipe, it is the latter.
What is poke cake?
A poke cake is a sheet cake that is poked with holes so it can absorb the flavor and moisture of a liquid that is poured over it. The liquid can be anything, such as coconut milk, chocolate pudding or even flavored Jell-O liquid gelatin.
Just like pecan pie recipes were used as a marketing push by Karo syrup, the poke cake recipe was developed by the Jell-O brand to boost sales after gelatin molds fell out of fashion.
Brewed coffee intensifies the cake’s chocolate flavors
Burke adds brewed coffee to the batter to intensify the chocolate flavor in this poke cake.
Another unexpected ingredient, caramelized condensed milk, is poured over the cake to keep it moist, and to add a sweetness that is not cloying.
What does NSFW poke cake mean?
This recipe name may raise eyebrows. In Justin Burke’s recipe headnote, he shares the funny story of how the cake’s name came to be:
“I must have been about eight years old when I first tried this cake, famously known as Better Than Sex Cake. Try explaining that name to an eight-year-old! Back then, there weren’t many filters in my household, so I just shrugged it off. But after tasting it, my young mind was genuinely worried that I would forever compare sex to this cake because, well, the cake was better, right? ... As I grew older, I realized the humor behind the name. To safeguard future youth from my irrational fear, I’ve renamed it NSFW Poke Cake."
NSFW Poke Cake
Timing: Better made the night before
Makes 12–16 servings
Ingredients:
For the cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup hot brewed coffee
For the filling
- Two 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
For the topping
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Four 1.4-ounce toffee chocolate bars, crushed
Instructions:
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with baking spray. Set aside.
- Prepare the cake. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt until evenly combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
- Add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract to the center of the well and whisk together until evenly combined. Whisk in the hot coffee until the batter is smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place on a wire rack and let cool.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, add 1 can of the condensed milk and stir constantly until reduced and the color has darkened, 10 to 15 minutes. Lower the heat and add the remaining condensed milk and butter and whisk vigorously until the butter melts and the mixture is evenly combined. Set aside.
- Once the cake has cooled, with the end of a wooden spoon or wooden dowel, poke roughly 75 holes throughout the cake. Pour the caramelized condensed milk over the cake, making sure it sinks into the holes.
- Make the topping. In a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread evenly over the cake. Scatter the toffee candy over the whipped cream. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, best overnight, before serving.
Note: NSFW Poke Cake only gets better with time — the longer it sets in the fridge, the richer and more irresistible it becomes.
Recipe excerpted and adapted from “Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share With Pride” by Justin Burke, copyright © 2025, reprinted by permission of Countryman Press, an imprint of W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.