• Self-rising flour is literally just all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt. If you can’t find any, just use 2 cups of all-purpose flour and whisk in 1 tablespoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. And don’t sleep on the buttermilk, either! Using buttermilk instead of whole milk added the slightest bit of tang to the end results and it lifted up the entire flavor profile. The OP actually mentioned that the cake base was her Big Mama’s blanket recipe for “all of her homemade poke cakes,” so I for one am dying to switch out the fillings and try it with a different flavor combo. (Maybe even some blueberry jam and lemon zest for a blueberry muffin–adjacent cake? I’m thinking about it.)