Triple Lemon Poke Cake gets its bold citrus flavor from lemon cake mix, lemon pudding and fresh lemon zest, all soaked with a bright lemon glaze while the cake is still warm.
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This sheet cake dessert starts with a cake mix and uses a packet of lemon pudding mix to add moisture and tenderness.
You'll use a skewer or fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake so the when you pour the glaze over it, the icing will get all up in the cake's business.
Three things to know about this cake:
- Use a wooden spoon or a spatula to mix it--no electric mixer should be used because the cake batter goes from zero to over mixed quickly.
- Use fresh lemon juice. Bottled juice won’t give you the same bright, vibrant flavor.
- Zest the lemons before you juice them. It's easier to zest a whole lemon that one that's been cut in half and juiced. (Freeze leftover zest.)
If you love lemon desserts, you’re in the right place. Try my Lemon Bars or my Meyer Lemon Cake, a bright citrus cake baked in a round pan that’s perfect for spring. Family-favorite Lemon Bars with Graham Cracker Crust and No-Bake Lemon Pie are two more fresh, citrusy options.
Ingredients
- Lemon cake mix
- Lemon Pudding Mix
- Eggs
- Water
- Canola oil
- Lemon zest (optional)
Lemon Glaze Ingredients
- Fresh Lemon juice
- Lemon zest (optional)
- Confectioner's sugar
See recipe card for ingredient amounts
How to Make Lemon Poke Cake
- 1 Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 13×9 pan with parchment paper.
- Stir together cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and lemon zest by hand. Do not use an electric mixer.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden and set.
- Let the cake rest 3–5 minutes, then poke holes all over the top.
- Whisk fresh lemon juice with confectioners’ sugar and pour the glaze evenly over the warm cake.
Tips for the Best Lemon Cake
– Mix by hand to avoid overworking the batter.
– Use fresh lemon juice for bright flavor.
– Poke holes while the cake is still warm so the glaze seeps in.
– Let the glaze set before slicing for clean squares.
Make the Lemon Glaze
Tools for Making Scrumptious Cakes
- Balloon Whisk (this one has ergonomic handle!)
Cake Slicing
For classic poke cake servings, slice the cake into small squares directly in the pan. This gives you the most portions and shows off those glaze-filled holes in every piece.
If you’d like to serve it a little differently, you can use a round cookie cutter to create individual portions. Just keep in mind that the rounds are slightly larger servings unless you use a smaller cutter.
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Recipe
Triple Lemon Poke Cake
Triple Lemon Poke Cake starts with a cake mix and a box of pudding mix and is gussied up with fresh lemon zest and a lemon glaze made with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Ingredients
- 1 lemon cake mix (15.25 ounces)
- 1 package instant lemon pudding mix (3.4 ounce envelope)
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup canola oil
- â…“ cup lemon juice
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (divided)
Instructions
- You're going to mix up the cake batter: put cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, lemon zest, water and canola oil in a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula.
- Turn on oven and heat to 350°F.
- Prepare a 13x9 cake pan by lining it with parchment paper. A light spray of vegetable oil inside the pan before you line it can help the parchment paper stick.
- Pour the batter in the cake pan.
- Bake for roughly 30 minutes at 350°F. [Oven temperatures vary, you may need to adjust your temperature or your time].
- While the cake is baking, make the lemon glaze: juice the two lemons you've just zested until you have â…“ of a cup of juice. Whisk the juice together with two cups of confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl until combined. Stir in remaining half tablespoon of lemon zest.
- Let the cake rest for three to five minutes after pulling it out of the oven. The hotter it is, the more the glaze will seep in. I like to have a little bit of crusty glaze on my cake so I let it cool slightly longer.
- Poke about a dozen holes in the cake using either a fork or a chopstick or the end of a wooden spoon.
- Pour glaze evenly over the top of the cake.
- Let cake cool then slice.
Notes
The cake should be golden brown when finished.
If the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, it's likely over baked.
You can use a toothpick to judge doneness. If you stick the toothpick in the middle of the cake and it comes out gooey or coated with crumbs, the cake isn't done yet.
If you pull out the toothpick and it's clean or just has a few crumbs, the cake is done baking.
For certainty, use a digital cooking thermometer to check the temperature of the cake. It should be around 200°F when done. (I use this digital cooking thermometer every week.)
You might also like to try my most popular dessert here Lemon Blackberry Cake OR my most popular dessert here Gooey Butter Cake.
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Cake lovers like you should try the most popular dessert on this site: Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, a St. Louis classic like moi (that's where I was born!) OR another cake that starts with a mix Lemon Blackberry Cake.
More cake and bar recipes for you: Lemon Blackberry Cake (starts from a cake mix, plus St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake (aka The Cake You Won't Stop Eating), Gooey Butter Cake From Scratch, Easy White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake and Paula Deen Pumpkin Bars.
Kathleen Cherritt says
Jennifer,
My family’s 70+ year old recipe is very lemony and the cake texture is slightly different than a regular cake. Our ingredient list is the same except we use jello mix instead of pudding. This change probably accounts for the crumb difference.
I’m anxious to try your recipe!