Dessert
Vegetarian
Milk
Gluten
Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake
Everything cake dreams are made of.
Kristy Norrell
Kristy Norrell
Published On: October 15, 2025
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Cinnamon rolls are hard to resist for a few reasons: One, the ooey-gooey center; two, the delicious cinnamon filling; three, the cream cheese frosting. (You knew that last one was coming, didn’t you?) While we all love a treat like that for breakfast, it also makes complete sense to bring those three irresistible things to dessert, especially in the form of cake. Especially in the form of poke cake, where that cinnamon filling has a chance to sink down into every nook and cranny. Here you have it, Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake, bringing the most crave-worthy breakfast out there to shareable, easy-to-make dessert.
Photo: 12 Tomatoes Creative Team
What is a Poke Cake?
I’m so glad you asked. A poke cake is a 9×13 cake where you take the end of a wooden spoon and poke holes all over it. Why? Well, this allows a sweet and delicious filling to seep down into the holes of the cake once you pour it over the top. Sometimes it’s a pudding mixture, sometimes it’s more saucy… in this case, it’s a saucy cinnamon-sugar beauty. Then, you seal it up with frosting and generally chill it long enough for that filling to set up a bit. It’s good dessert technology, I’m telling you.
Photo: 12 Tomatoes Creative Team
What Ingredients Do You Need for Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake?
It’s kind of a shortcut cake, which is a nice break sometimes. You’ll need:
A box of vanilla cake mix. (Plus the eggs, oil, etc, that it calls for.)
Sweetened condensed milk.
Butter.
Brown sugar.
Cinnamon.
And then for the frosting, some cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a touch of heavy cream.
Photo: 12 Tomatoes Creative Team
How Do You Make Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake?
To start with, you’ll follow the instructions on the back of that cake box. Mix it up, get it into a 9×13-inch baking pan, and then bake it until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it sit and cool a bit and then take the handle end of a wooden spoon and poke holes all over the cake. Don’t decimate it, but give that filling some room to work.
Photo: 12 Tomatoes Creative Team
The filling is very simple. Just whisk together the sweetened condensed milk with the brown sugar, the cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Just go ahead and pour that cinnamon filling all over and use a rubber spatula or something to help encourage it down into the holes.
Photo: 12 Tomatoes Creative Team
The frosting is basic frosting: cream together the butter and cream cheese, then beat the powdered sugar in gradually so you don’t cover your kitchen with it, and then increase the speed to whip some air into the frosting. A little cream at the end makes it silky smooth.
Photo: 12 Tomatoes Creative Team
Slather that frosting over the top and then exercise some patience while you let this chill for about a half hour. It helps to set that filling up a bit and make for easier slicing.
The end result is incredibly moist vanilla cake that’s full of deep, rich cinnamon flavor. It’s kind of like a tres leches cake… but chock full of cinnamon. And of course, with the wonderful addition of cream cheese frosting, which in my book is always a welcome addition.
Photo: 12 Tomatoes Creative Team
