What's a 4th of July celebration without a gorgeous red, white, and blue dessert? Can you have a summer party without one?
I think not.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- SO easy to make! It's a great recipe for beginners because the cake is never dry since you pour gelatin into it!
- It's always the star of the dessert table because it's so pretty.
- Kids love it.
This patriotic Jello poke cake recipe is quick and easy to make, as well as make-ahead, so you can spend your time enjoying the day right along with family and friends.
White cake is infused with strawberry and blue raspberry gelatin then covered with a creamy whipped white chocolate frosting and garnished with fresh berries.
Red, white, and blue it's the perfect dessert for all your summer parties.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
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- strawberry Jello
- blue raspberry Jello
- white cake mix (including the ingredients used to make it)
- powdered sugar
- white chocolate or vanilla instant pudding mix
- heavy cream
- strawberries
- blueberries
- white chocolate
🥄 Equipment
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One nice thing to have is a sheet pan with a plastic cover. That way the cover stays up off the top of the cake and you don't run the risk of the plastic sticking to the fruit and moving it around.
I like this sheet cake pan from Wilton.
🥫 Storage
You can make this red, white, and blue poke cake 2 days ahead of time if you don't frost it until the day you want to serve it OR you can make it a day ahead of time and go ahead and frost it.
Once frosted keep it in the refrigerator. Be sure to cover it tightly because the whipped frosting will take on refrigerator odors and weird flavors.
Store leftover poke cake, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. After that it will tend to get soggy and have a weird texture.
📖 Variations
You can use other flavor combinations of gelatin to create Jello poke cakes for almost any occasion!
- Cherry and lime with vanilla whipped topping.
- Black cherry for Valentine's day with white chocolate or chocolate whipped topping.
- Lime for a St Patrick's Day green Jello poke cake.
- Lemon sheet cake with lemon or lime gelatin and lemon whipped topping.
- Strawberry sheet cake with strawberry gelatin.
There are so many different flavors of jello that there are ALL kinds of possibilities!
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: You can make this even quicker and easier by buying an unfrosted white cake at the bakery or bakery section of your store.
- Be sure not to go all the way through the cake but vary the depth of the holes from about half way to about ¾ths of the way down.
- Twisting the dowel a little will help the cake hold more of the filling.
- Make the holes when the cake is still a little warm.
- Make sure the holes aren't too close together - keep them even all over the cake.
- Be sure to allow plenty of time for the cake to chill or it will be soggy. Give it at least 3 to 4 hours.
👩🍳 FAQs
A poke cake is any cake that you poke holes into to allow pudding, fruit puree, or gelatin to seep into the cake. This isn't the same as poking a cake with a thin toothpick so that it will soak up condensed milk or other liquid. The holes in a poke cake tend to retain some of what you've put in it making pockets of filling throughout the cake.
A small dowel or handle of a wooden spoon is used to poke holes in the cake.
Most poke cakes need to be refrigerated whether they are covered in pudding, Jello, or something else.
📚 Related recipes
Here are some other great patriotic recipes for your summer parties.
- Cream Cheese Coffee Cake with Berries
- Plain Cheesecake
- Red White and Blue Bundt
- Star Shaped Zebra Cake Copycat
- Margaritas by the Pitcher
- White Chocolate Bowls
🍽️ Serve with...
- Grilled chicken is always perfect for summer.
- This watermelon basket is a classic and it's so easy.
- You can't go wrong with a fruit salad, either.
- Macaroni salad is a classic summer side.
📞 The last word
My parents always celebrated big on 4th of July with themed pool parties that ended with watching fireworks explode and spew color across the nighttime sky.
I have so many great memories!
We have never entertained on that grand of a scale, however I still like to celebrate with all of the traditional foods! Macaroni salad, potato salad, burgers, and easy desserts like this patriotic Jello Poke Cake.
This easy cake is extra yummy because of the whipped white chocolate topping. You can make white chocolate stars for decoration freehand or in star shaped chocolate molds
You may also like this Boston cream poke cake.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Patriotic Jello Poke Cake
Print Pin Recipe SaveIngredients
Cake
- white cake, baked in a 13x9-inch pan
- 4 ounces red Jell-O, 4 serving size
- 4 ounces blue Jell-O
Frosting
- 1 quart heavy cream
- ¼ cup Confectioner's sugar
- 3.9 ounces white chocolate instant pudding
- 1 pint ripe strawberries, hulled and halfed
- 1 pint blueberries
- ½ pint raspberries, optional
- ½ pint blackberries, optional
White Chocolate Stars
- 6 ounces white chocolate
Instructions
Cake
- Poke holes in cooled cake at ½-inch intervals, poking about halfway through the cake and twisting gently with a small dowel.
- Put the red Jell-O in one bowl and the blue in another.
- Pour ½ cup of boiling water in each and stir until gelatin dissolves.
- Pour the red Jell-O in some of the holes in the cake randomly and finish filling the other holes with the blue Jell-O.
- Chill overnight.
Frosting
- Add the heavy cream, pudding mix, and Confectioner's sugar to the bowl of a mixer.
- Using the whisk attachment beat until light and fluffy - with the texture of thick whipped cream.
- Cover the chilled cake thickly with the topping.
- Add the fruit in any design you prefer.
White Chocolate Stars
- Melt white chocolate and either fill star shaped candy molds or create stars freehand on waxed paper.
- Chill until firm.
- Use to decorate cake.
- Store in the refrigerator
Notes
- Be sure not to go all the way through the cake but vary the depth of the holes from about half way to about ¾ths of the way down.
- Twisting the dowel a little will help the cake hold more of the filling.
- Make the holes when the cake is still a little warm.
- Make sure the holes aren't too close together - keep them even all over the cake.
- Be sure to allow plenty of time for the cake to chill or it will be soggy. Give it at least 3 to 4 hours.
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published June 28, 2018. Last updated March 28, 2022 for readability and more tips.
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