Nothing says Independence Day like my new red white and blue poke cake recipe!
With vivid colors and even more vivid flavors, this sheet cake has all the traits to steal your heart and wow your crowd. Plus, like all poke cake recipes, it’s easy to make, utilizing packaged mixes to give you one of the easiest cake recipes you’ll ever whip up!
Consider this star-spangled dessert the lovechild mash-up of my strawberry poke cake and coconut sheet cake — with a little pina colada cake thrown in for festivity!
Grab your sparklers and let’s bake!
What I Love About This Recipe
Any cake that tastes amazing, looks even better, and is super easy to make is an instant classic in my house! Especially when I’ve got a big holiday to cook for, like the Fourth of July, and I know I’ll need a crowd-wowing dessert in a snap.
Enter my red white and blue poke cake!
- Beautiful colors — perfect for the patriotic holidays!
- SO easy
- Delicious summer flavors
- Ready made boxed ingredients!
Red White And Blue Poke Cake Video Tutorial
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How To Make Red White And Blue Poke Cake Recipe
Start by getting your oven and pan prepped, then just make your cake mix according to the box directions, all the way through until it’s baked.
While your cake is cooling, mix your strawberry Jell-O and some boiling water until the Jell-O dissolves. Use the prongs of a fork, make holes in your cake, and pour the strawberry Jell-O over every other row of holes. Repeat with the blueberry Jell-O on the remaining holes.
Be careful to skip holes! If the Jell-O’s combine, you’ll end up with purple poke cake — and while that would be beautiful, that’s not what you want for a patriotic dish!
Cover your cake and refrigerate.
Once it’s serving time, make your topping by beating the pudding mix with milk. Fold in the Cool Whip and spread on top of your cake.
Recipe Notes
Now that you’ve got the basics down, let’s dive in deeper with some tricks I’ve learned!
Ingredient Notes
Boxed cake mixes and Jell-O? Kathleen, are you sure?
Trust me, friends!
- Cake Mix: I can’t get enough of super moist cakes, and this recipe turns out one extra delicious sponge — but to take it to the next level, I always grab a boxed mix that has pudding right in the package! Decadence, party of YOU!
- Jell-O: The standard red and blue Jell-O flavors are strawberry and blueberry — but go wild! Try some of the other fun flavors, like black cherry for red and cotton candy for blue. Kids will love the cotton candy flavor!
- Hot Water: Don’t skip the hot water step! Even though we aren’t making the actual Jell-O, we still need the hot water to dissolve the gelatin and work to give our cake its signature [oke cake consistency.
- Pudding: You can swap out your pudding flavor too! I think the white chocolate pudding flavor tastes amazing, but go for other unique twists too, like cheesecake or coconut!
Tools to Make
If you’ve made a cake before, I guarantee you have all the tools you need to make this cake!
- A 9×13 baking dish (preferably decorative, since you’ll be serving the cake right in this dish!)
- Bowls for mixing
- Spoons
- A fork to poke your holes
- Spatula to spread your topping
You got this!
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
This cake loves the fridge — but be wary! This cake has a tendency to disintegrate after too long since it’s so deliciously moist. I, personally, don’t mind the soft texture it takes on after a few days, but your guests likely won’t be as forgiving with their party desserts!
Only leave this cake in the fridge up to twelve hours before you serve it. After the party, you’ll get up to a week out of it in the fridge, if you don’t mind the softer texture!
Can You Freeze This?
Yes! I love frozen desserts, especially in the summertime, and the freezer’s temps actually help this cake retain its structure.
Freeze in individual slices or whole for up to four months. To thaw, let it sit in the fridge or just eat it straight from the freezer!
Make Ahead Tips
You want this red white and blue poke cake to sit in the fridge after the Jell-O is added so it has time to set up — but not for too long! Like I said above, you run the risk of the structure getting too moist, so watch yourself. Make it ahead of time but be smart about your timing!
Serving Recommendations
This red white and blue poke cake recipe are begging to be part of a proper Fourth of July backyard barbecue!
Whip up some of my signature grilled chicken marinade to get your grill singing and throw some corn on there too! While that’s going, make a pitcher of my famous strawberry frosé so you can sip and savor. Pile on sides like my creamy macaroni salad or my crunchy, fresh cucumber tomato salad, and you’ve got a party worthy of summer!
Red White And Blue Poke Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 package white cake mix, plus ingredients called for on the box
- 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry Jell-O
- 1 (3-ounce) box blueberry Jell-O
- boiling water
- cold water
Topping:
- 1 (3-ounce) box Jell-O white chocolate-flavor instant pudding & pie filling mix
- 1/2 cup cold milk
- 1 (8-ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed
- 2 cups strawberries, sliced
- 2 cup blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Prepare the cake according to box instructions (using ingredients listed on the package). Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cake cool for 10 minutes. While the cake is still hot, using a fork or bamboo stick, poke holes all over the top of the cake, almost all the way to the bottom, every 1/2 inch.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir strawberry Jell-O and 1/2 cup boiling water until dissolved. Stir in 1/4 cup cold water. Carefully pour strawberry Jell-O over every other row of holes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir blueberry Jell-O and 1/2 cup boiling water until dissolved. Stir in 1/4 cup cold water. Pouring blueberry Jell-O over the remaining rows of holes.
- Covered and refrigerate at least 4 hours, but no longer than 12 hours until serving time.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat pudding mix and milk until smooth and well combined. Gently fold in Cool Whip. Spread topping over top of the cake.
- Arrange strawberries and blueberries on top of the cake in curvy lines, starting and ending with a line of strawberries. Serve!
Fans Also Made:
Nutrition
More Sheet Cake Recipes
Want more desserts that’ll fit right in with your summertime festivities? Here are some must-haves!
- Strawberry Sheet Cake – Strawberry season celebrated right
- Coconut Poke Cake – Let’s get tropical!
- Pineapple Sheet Cake – Tart, sweet, everything you wanna eat!
- Lemon Sheet Cake– Bring on that citrus shine!
- Pineapple Sunshine Cake – Can’t get to the Caribbean? This cake is the next best thing!
- Pig Pickin Cake – Can’t pick just one fruit to highlight? Have it all!
Conclusion
Summertime means parties, and parties mean getting to celebrate the Fourth of July! This Red White and Blue Poke Cake recipe is ready and willing to ring in fireworks with you this season. Fresh and colorful and oh so good!
What flavors of Jell-O did you use? Let me know in the comments!
What a gorgeous cake!
Thank you, Zora!