Strawberry Poke Cake Recipe

Strawberry Poke cake. Easy delicious cake made with a boxed cake and strawberry Jell-O then topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Easy to make cake that is perfect for summer!

Strawberry Poke Cake

If you are looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert recipe then you are going to love this Strawberry Poke Cake! While this strawberry jello poke cake is perfect for anytime, I really think the bright red and white scream Valentine’s Day. This refreshing strawberry jello filled cake is also perfect for the summer time!

If you are looking for an easy summer cake recipe, this one is perfect! All you need is a boxed cake mix baked, strawberry jell-o, cool whip, water and fresh strawberries. It really is a super easy dessert to make!

I love making desserts in the summer months and this cake is one of our favorites. It is always enjoyed by our family and friends when I bring it to a get together.

Easy Summer dessert recipes

• Caramel turtle poke cake
• Watermelon Jello Slices
• Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
• Ice Cream Cupcakes
• Easy Ice Cream Cake
• Unicorn Ice Cream
• Shortbread cookie ice cream sandwiches
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

What is a Poke Cake?

A poke cake is a baked cake that after being done has holes punctured in it. Those holes are then filled by pouring filling on top of the cake that goes into the holes making the cake have the flavor thru out the cake.

You can fill the holes of a poke cake with many different things including Jell-o (like we did in this Jell-o Poke cake), pudding, syrup, glazes and more. Making a poke cake is a really great easy way to fancy up a boxed cake mix. If you want to use a homemade cake to make poke cake you can, but I like the ease of using a boxed cake mix when I make poke cakes. 

How to poke holes in cake

When poking holes in the cake you want them to be large enough to have the filling you are pouring on top get in the hole, but not so big that you crumble the cake. You want the holes just big enough that the filling will soak into the cake but not go thru the cake on to the bottom. You also do not want to poke the holes all the way thru the cake bottom.

I like using chopsticks but anything similar in size will work to poke the holes.

Do I need to use White Cake?

I like using white cake because the Jell-o looks so pretty with it. You can use a yellow cake or even a chocolate cake if you want to. A Chocolate strawberry poke cake sounds amazing doesn’t it?

Do I need to use Strawberry Jello?

I used strawberry jello because I wanted a strawberry poke cake, but you can change up the Jell-O that you use. You can keep the fresh strawberries on top or change it out to have the same flavor as the Jell-o you use.

• Lemon poke cake. Use Lemon Jell-o and skip adding the fruit on top.
• cherry poke cake. Use Cherry Jell-O and fresh cherries on top.
• peach poke cake. Use Peach Jell-o and fresh peaches on top.
• raspberry poke cake. Use Raspberry Jell-o and fresh raspberries on top.

Tips and Variations

Use homemade whipped cream. You can use cool whip, whipped cream or homemade whipped cream and I think the best flavor is using homemade whipped cream.

Change out the Jello for pudding. Sometimes I change out the strawberry jello for vanilla pudding, you can also do part of the cake with the jello and the other part with the vanilla pudding. You can use homemade vanilla pudding or instant vanilla pudding.

Refrigerate the cake without the whipped topping and put the whipped cream on top right before serving for best results. But you will want to keep the whipped cream topping in the fridge as well until ready to serve the cake.

How many poke holes do I need and how big should I make them?

The number of poke holes you make can be varied. At a minimum, I would suggest 12. I used more to ensure the jello soaks in more evenly.

Depending on your wooden spoon, the stem can be quite thick, so in that case, I prefer to use a larger straw so that my holes don’t become huge. I would recommend making them somewhere around a 1/4 inch which will allow you to have more holes.

Can I make this cake ahead of time?

You can make poke cake ahead of time. I suggest baking the cake and adding the Jell-o and frosting the cake and adding the fresh fruit on top until right before you are going to serve it.

This cake is a great cake to make ahead of time and freeze to enjoy later. You can make the whole cake, fill it with jello and then freeze it. When you want to serve it, make the whipped cream topping and put it on the cake and place the full cake in the fridge to defrost. This cake can be frozen for up to 2 months. When thawing, open the covering or saran wrap to allow for ventilation.

How to Store This Cake

This cake is best served the day it is made however it can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Does poke cake need to be refrigerated?

Yes! Poke cake because it is filled with jello (or pudding in some cakes) and topped with whipped frosting needs to be stored in the fridge.

Strawberry Poke Cake Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• Eggs, water and oil that is called for on the boxed cake mix
• 1 cup water, boiling
• 1 3 ounces package strawberry jello
• 1 8 ounces container cool whip
• 2 cups strawberries, chopped

How to Make Strawberry Poke Cake

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 13“ pan with cooking spray.

Prepare your box of cake mix per the directions on the back of the box and pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake the cake as long as the recipe calls for on the back of the box. Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes after baking.

Taking a chopstick or a utensil about the same size poke a lot a holes all over the cake.

Boil 1 cup of hot water and Mix the water and Jell-O powder together. Pour the mixture over your cake slowly making sure to cover the entire surface. 

Allow the cake to set in the refrigerator for one hour.

Spread your Cool Whip over the top of the cake and an even layer.

Sprinkle the strawberries over the top of the cake.

Tasty Cake Recipes

• Samoa Mini Cakes
• How to Make a boxed cake taste homemade
• Homemade Ice Cream Cake
• Easter Bunny Cake
• Thin Mint Cake
• S’Mores Cake
• Caramel Turtle Cake
• Spiderman Cake
• American Flag Cake