I was feeling adventurous this most recent Mother’s Day, and I tried making a Strawberry Poke Cake. This recipe is SO easy and SO delicious! It’s perfect for a hot day because it’s really refreshing and light!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 box of white cake mix & all listed ingredients
- 1 regular sized tub of cool whip
- 1 box of strawberry Jello mix
- 1 container of fresh strawberries
Now, you’ll need to go ahead and make up the white cake, just as instructed on the box. I suggest making it in a 9×13 pan, preferably glass, but metal should work fine, too, if that’s what you have. As always, preheat while you’re mixing so you shorten your wait time.
Once the cake is in the oven baking, you’re going to want to cut your strawberries and make up the Jello liquid. I’d cut the strawberries first, rinsing and slicing and setting aside.
The Jello only takes a few minutes, so I suggest doing it toward the end of your cake baking time. If your cake takes 25-30 minutes, maybe in the last third of your anticipated cool time, so at about the 20-25 minute mark.
Boil one cup of water on the stove and get one cup of chilled water ready. One the stovetop water is boiling, pour it into a container with the cold water. (I use my glass measuring cup because it easily holds over two cups of liquid with room to stir.) Then, add in your Jello mixture and stir until it’s no longer settling on the bottom. Set this aside for use in just a few minutes!
When the cake is done, let cool on a non-heated surface (the stovetop isn’t super ideal, since the oven has been hot recently). Then, poke holes in the cake. My first time making a poke cake, I thought they might have to be perfectly even. Since then, I’ve experimented and if they aren’t in even lines, it’s not an issue. Poke your small holes however you like – random or organized – whatever makes you happiest. I used a fork to make my pokes the first time, but the second time I used a new bamboo skewer and it worked just as well.
Once the cake is sufficiently poked, you can slowly pour your liquid Jello mix across the top of the cake. It’ll soak quickly into the cake and into the poked holes.
Let the cake (now looking quite tinted) cool for a few more minutes. Once it’s fairly cool to the touch, you can use a rubber spatula to smooth on cool whip. It should cover the top of the cake and be thick and fluffy!
Then, grab your sliced strawberries and place them on top. You can go for an organized pattern, but with strawberries, I personally wanted as many as would fit, so I took the more random approach.
Put this in the freezer until about 35-45 minutes before you plan to serve! It’ll let the cool whip firm up a little bit, which will make cutting and serving easier.
If you have leftovers, be sure to store those in the freezer too! Enjoy!
You can also substitute the strawberry flavor for others. Here are some pictures of a lime poke cake I made recently by just simply substituting the strawberry Jello for lime and nixing the sliced strawberries for thin lime wedges as garnish on top. It was super refreshing on a hot summer day!
Kate with a Twang 
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