Everybody likes cake, and this one has a special surprise.

Photography By James Stefiuk

“A party without cake is just a meeting,” said the late, great Julia Child. I’m of the same mind as Julia, and I would definitely bring this cake to a party or even to a staff meeting because it is good and I like to share — and who doesn’t like cake?

True to its name and a hot food trend of the 1970s, a poke cake is a cake that you poke holes all over after it has been baked. You then fill the holes with sweetened condensed milk, hot fudge sauce, caramel or gelatin. I guess you’re only limited by your imagination as to what you can pour after you poke. It’s usually not the prettiest thing to look at after this step, but trust me it gets better. You then allow what you poured to soak into the cake before adding a topping. There are a number of variations to a poke cake, but the Coconut Crème Poke Cake is my all time favorite. The cake becomes so moist and is filled with the sweetened flavor of coconut goodness.

The coconut is a fruit from the palm family. For cooking purposes you can use the raw inner pithy layers, as in this recipe, or you can use the juices from inside. Although the juice inside is mainly water, the white meat inside is versatile and can be quite healthful. Coconut can be eaten raw or dried and can be used to make coconut milk, cream or even coconut oil, all of which is packed with iron, vitamin c and fiber. However, in this recipe the sugar, calories and fat outweigh any health benefit from the coconut. For the sake of flavor, let’s just look past the lack of health benefits and eat the cake. Feel free to mix up the ingredients and make it your own. Enjoy!