Boston Cream Poke Cake & a Celebration!

I am thrilled to say that yesterday marked the 2 year anniversary of my Dad's life-saving stem cell transplant!  You can read more about it HERE.  We celebrated by getting the family together and having a cook-out, and one of my Dad's favorite desserts....

He loves anything Boston Cream...so I decided to make a version of this Boston Cream Poke Cake from Lil' Luna.  I changed it up just a little by adding a homemade chocolate icing to the top.

Boston Cream Poke Cake (with homemade Hershey's icing)

*yellow cake mix (I used the Duncan Hines Butter recipe yellow cake mix)

*ingredients called for on cake box (eggs/butter/water)

*large box of instant vanilla pudding (I used sugar free, fat free)

*amount of milk called for on pudding box (mine was 3 cups; I used skim milk)

for icing- (from my MIL)

*1 cup sugar

*1/3 cup cocoa (I used Hershey's Dark)

*1/4 cup milk

*1/4 cup butter

*1 teaspoon vanilla

To make cake - mix up cake batter according to directions on box.  Bake as directed in a 13x9 pan.  While cake is cooling, mix up vanilla pudding according to package directions.  Poke holes in your cake with the end of a wooden spoon (see notes). Pour and smooth vanilla pudding over surface of cake.

To make icing - Mix sugar, cocoa and milk in a pot, bring to a boil over medium heat - stirring the entire time WITH A WOODEN SPOON.  Boil for one minute (still stirring!)  Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.  Mix until it just starts to thicken - don't let it thicken too much or it is very difficult to spread over cake.  Pour over pudding layer of cake. Icing will 'set' on cake.

Love the pretty layers :)

Now...notes!  Don't poke your holes too deep into your cake.  I had never made a poke cake before, so I just stabbed my spoon into my cake with no regards to depth.  Also, I let my cake sit overnight which also made a difference - but most of my pudding and half of my icing soaked into my cake!  I think no more than half way into the cake would be plenty deep.  I also think the cake would be better eaten the day it is made, if you want to keep the nice layers.  Otherwise, you have a very moist cake with some chocolate on top...which is fine, but not what I was going for.  That being said, my mom said the cake tasted just like a Boston Cream doughnut.  Believe it or not, I don't like Boston Cream doughnuts, or Chocolate Eclairs (I know, I'm weird like that), but I do like the cake versions!

If you do not want to mess with the homemade icing - the original version called for chocolate pudding over the vanilla pudding layer.  You could also heat up canned icing and pour over the top.  Of course, you could also make this cake using a homemade cake recipe, homemade pudding, with a chocolate ganache on top.  Holla.  Please send me some if you do that.

Also, check out www.marrow.org for information regarding becoming a stem cell/bone marrow donor.

I'm linking up this recipe with Everything Under the Moon, Homemaker on a Dime, A Southern Fairytale, Delightfully Dowling, Making the World Cuter, Mandy's Recipe Box, It's a Blog Party, All the Small Stuff, 33 Shades of Green, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, From Mess Hall to Bistro , (2/13/13) Finding Joy in My Kitchen - Ingredient Spotlight: Chocolate