Strawberry Poke Cake

Strawberry Poke Cake Recipe is an amazing recipe that makes a beautiful, delicious, old fashioned cake that is infused with a Strawberry Jello filling mix and topped with luscious Homemade Whipped Cream.

You will enjoy making this cake and serving it to your family and friends.

This Strawberry Poke Cake does not last very long because it is so delicious!

Strawberry Poke Cake Recipe

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter
  
  

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  
  

• 4 large eggs
  
  
• 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
  
  

• 3 teaspoons baking powder
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 1 cup whole milk
  
  

• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  

Let all ingredients except the whipped cream come to room temperature.

Sift together the cake flour, the baking powder and the salt and set it aside.

In a stand mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until it is light and fluffy.

It takes about 2 or 3 minutes. 

When it is well mixed, scrape and the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl.

Fold in the flour mixture and milk with the vanilla stirred in, alternately, a little at a time, starting and ending with the flour. 

Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl again.

You do not need to line the bottom of the baking pan, because this cake is left in the pan to catch any excess juices, if there are any.

However, do grease the bottom of and sides of a 13" x 9" baking pan with non-melted butter.

This will help while you are cutting and serving the cake squares from the pan.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Then tap the bottom of the pan lightly on your countertop to settle the cake batter.

 
Place the pan in a preheated oven at 350F. for about 35-40 minutes until the cake test done when probed with a toothpick or fork in the center.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on a cooling rack for a couple of hours.

Prepare the syrup.

Syrup Recipe

• 3 cups of fresh or frozen, thawed and drained strawberries
  
  
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  
  
• 1/2 cup water
  
  
• 2 tablespoons Strawberry Flavored Jello

Mix together the strawberries, sugar, water and the Jello in a saucepan. 

Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook the mixture on medium heat until the strawberries have softened.

It takes about 10 minutes.

Then strain the mixture into a bowl, reserving the strawberry solids.

Mix the dry Jello into the liquids and let it cool to room temperature.

That takes about 20 minutes.

Use a wooden skewer or something similar to punch 50 holes in the cake without touching the bottom of the pan.

When you punch holes in the cake, twist the skewer as you go, to enlarge the holes for the syrup to easily flow into them.

Pour the cooked and cooled Jello mixture evenly over the top of the cake making sure to cover all the holes.

Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until the Jello is set.

It takes about 3 hours to set.

Topping Recipe

• Reserved strained strawberries
  
  
• 2 more tablespoons granulator sugar
  
  
• The remaining 1 cup frozen strawberries

Pulse the strained strawberries, sugar and remaining sugar in a food processor until the mixture looks like strawberry jam.

It takes about 5 to 7 pulses. 

Spread the mixture evenly over the cake.

Before serving, whip the cream and the 2 remaining tablespoons of sugar together in a stand mixer until soft peaks form and spread evenly over the cake.

Cover the cake, still in the pan and refrigerate it up to 3 days.

This Poke Cake is also delicious made with other berries such as raspberries and blackberries.


Use equal measurements of berries.

History Of Strawberry Poke Cake

A Poke Cake Recipe first appeared in a Jello advertisement in 1976 that was intended to increase sales, which it did. 

That first cake was a white cake with various bright colors of Jello and also the ad illustrated a Cool Whip Topping. 

Bon Appetit ran an ad in their Magazine in 1981, featuring a cake called a moist and fruity  Rainbow Cake.

That cake was made by punching holes in the cake and filling the holes with Jello, too.


However, this cake used several different colors for the rainbow colors.

I can not imagine how they did that.

Then they developed a two layer cake with just two bright, contrasting colors of Jello. 


I do not believe the two layer cake idea for this cake lasted very long, because it seems the cake would be falling over just trying to cut and serve it.

The oblong cake pan size is a perfect fit for the  cutting and serving of this amazing cake.

Related Pages

Cherry Cupcake Recipe

Maraschino Cherry Cake Recipe

Marble Cake Recipe

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