For a festive dessert to show your American pride, this Patriotic Red, White, & Blue Poke Cake is perfect. The moist white cake with red & blue streams of colored gelatin is so pretty. The cherry and berry Jell-O adds fruity flavor that elevates a boxed cake mix to a yummy level everyone will love.
This cold refrigerator cake with light Cool-Whip frosting and sprinkles is moist, refreshing, creamy, & sweet. It's a wonderful summer dessert recipe like my S'mores Icebox Cake. Be ready to wow your guests with a slice of this.
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The Why
I grew up having this poke cake for many 4th of July celebrations. Now I make it for my kids and we all love it. You will too!
- Easy to make with a boxed cake mix.
- 24 servings feeds a crowd, perfect for parties & celebrations.
- A make-ahead recipe that is served chilled, ideal for summer.
- Best dessert for Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day, or any other American holiday.
(oh and the British flag is red, white, & blue so this is great for holidays in the UK, too)
Ingredients
This poke cake recipe calls for several ready-made ingredients. A store-bought cake mix helps make this a quick recipe.
This poke cake recipe also calls for red and blue Jell-O gelatin. You can get the small or large boxes, you will only use part of each box.
- Boxed White Cake Mix - any brand such as Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, or Duncan Hines.
- Ingredients to make the cake mix
- Cherry Jell-O - for the red streaks
- Berry Blue Jell-O - for the blue streaks
- Boiling Water - to mix with the gelatin.
- Cool-Whip Whipped Topping - the lightness of this really makes this cool dessert less heavy which is how summer desserts should be.
- Red & Blue Sugar or Red, White, & Blue Sprinkles - go crazy and make this as colorful & fun as you want.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Patriotic Poke Cake Recipe Video
How to Make a Poke Cake with Jell-O
Preheat the oven to 350°. Also, prep the 9x16x3 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Here are the easy steps to make this cake:
- Mix the Cake Mix
- Bake & Cool the Cake
- Poke Holes in the Cake
- Mix & Add the Jell-O
- Chill & Decorate
1 - Mix the Cake Mix
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, prepare the cake per the package ingredients. White cake typically uses only the egg whites plus oil and water.
Reserve the egg yolks that will not be needed and save them in our refrigerator for another recipe like my Easy 3-Ingredient Creme Brulee.
2 - Bake & Cool the Cake
Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out clean for it to be ready.
Let the cake cool for 30 minutes. This ensures the cake will not stick to your kitchen tool while making the holes.
3 - Poke Holes in the Cake
Using the end of a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or thick chopsticks, poke holes over the top of the cake. Leave about ¾-1" of space between each hole. this will keep the Jello colors from bleeding into one another and creating purple instead of red and blue.
4 - Mix & Add the Jell-O
Heat up 1.5 cups of water until boiling hot. Do so in the microwave or on the stovetop with a tea kettle.You will not be adding dry Jell-O to the cake mix. It will be dissolved and in liquid form to pour into the holes in the cake.
Using two pourable containers like glass measuring cups, add 4 Tablespoons of Jell-O mix to each. Keep the red and blue separate, including using 2 different stirring spoons.
To each measuring cup with Jell-O, add ¾ cup of hot water. Carefully stir each until the gelatin mix dissolves.
How Many Holes to Poke into the Cake?
I like big thick holes so used a large handle on my wooden spoon. With this size, I get about 4-5 holes across the short width of the cake and about 8-9 across the long length of the cake. If you are using a smaller wooden tool to poke holes you may get up to 30-40 holes total.
Carefully pour the red Jell-O into every other hole in the top of the cake. The holes do not need to be full, just a bit into each hole is plenty.
Half of the holes will now have a bit of red gelatin in them. Next, add the blue Jell-O to the remaining holes. Make sure to not combine the colors.
5 - Chill & Decorate
Once all the Jell-O liquid gelatin has been added to the cake, place the cake into the refrigerator. Chill for at least 1 hour. 2-4 hours is ideal.
When you are ready to serve it, spread the Cool-Whip evenly over the top of the cake for frosting. Sprinkle with the red & blue sugar or sprinkles. Cut into evenly sized squares.
This cake should be about 24 pieces. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Does Poke Cake Need to be Refrigerated?
This poke cake has gelatin in it and a Cool-Whip whipped topping. Both of those ingredients require refrigeration for the cake to be at its best.
Hint: This cake does not travel well so keep it in a cooler if needed. This will keep it chilled for the drive and limit the time to about 30 minutes. Get it in the refrigerator as soon as you arrive at your destination.
Serve this with my recipe for Red, White, & Blue Strawberries and really throw a great 4th of July party.
Substitutions & Variations
This poke cake can be made to fit a few special dietary needs with some simple substitutions. If you want a gluten-free, lower sugar, or vegetarian red, white, & blue poke cake, follow the suggestions below.
- Jell-O- use sugar-free gelatin to cut down on the sugar/calorie count or use different flavors like strawberry or raspberry
- Vegetarian - use plant-based gelatin, such as Simply Delish brand
- Fresh Berries - instead of sprinkles top with sliced strawberries, bananas, & fresh blueberries to create a poke cake with a flag design
- Whipped Frosting - instead of the light Cool-Whip use a canned white whipped frosting if you want something a bit sweeter
Top Tips & Equipment
For success with this recipe make sure you do the following:
- Follow the instructions on the boxed cake mix you buy.
- Plan ahead because this cake needs to chill twice.
- Some brands of sprinkles will bleed so add them just before serving.
- Serve chilled for best taste & texture.
This sheet cake is can be made in the 9x12x2 or 9x16x3 baking pan. Here are the ingredients & equipment that are needed to make this recipe.
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Final Notes & Behind the Scenes
Here is my recipe for success - including what I learned, funny stories or bloopers, and more from creating & testing this recipe for poke cake:
- All ingredients are easy to find in grocery stores.
- Gluten-free boxed cake mixes are a great substitution.
- Poke cakes using gelatin first became popular in the 1970s. This vintage dessert was created for an ad from Jell-O in the 60s originally.
- The first time I made this I used rainbow sprinkles/jimmies and that was a mistake. OOPS! The color began to bleed as they softened in the CoolWhip & though tasty did not produce stunning photos.
- Share a comment below about other poke cake flavors you have tried.
Patriotic Red, White, & Blue Poke Cake
Equipment
- 9x16x3 baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 Boxed White Cake Mix
- ingredients to make the cake mix typically egg whites, water, & vegetable oil
- 3 oz Jello Cherry
- 3 oz Jello Berry Blue
- 1.5 cups hot water (divided)
- 8 oz Cool-Whip Whipped Topping defrosted
- red & blue colored sugar or red, white, & blue sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Also, prep the baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, prepare the cake per the package ingredients.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared 9x16x3 baking pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out clean for it to be ready.
- Once you remove the cake from the oven, prepare the 2 Jello mixes. Heat up 1.5 cups of water until boiling hot. Do so in the microwave or on the stovetop with a tea kettle.
- Using two pourable containers like glass measuring cups, add 4 Tablespoons of jello mix to each. Keep the red and blue separate, including using 2 different stirring spoons.To each measuring cup with Jello, add ¾ cup of hot water. Carefully stir each until the gelatin mix dissolves.
- Using the end of a wooden spoon, or thick chopsticks, poke holes over the top of the cake. Leave about ¾-1" of space between each hole. this will keep the Jello colors from bleeding into one another and creating purple instead of red and blue.I like big thick holes so used a large handle on my wooden spoon. With this size, I get about 4-5 holes across the short width of the cake and about 8-9 across the long length of the cake. If you are using a smaller wooden tool to poke holes you may get up to 30-40 holes total.
- Carefully pour the red Jello into every other hole in the top of the cake. The holes do not need to be full, just a bit into each hole is plenty. Half the holes will now have a bit of red gelatin in them. Next, add the blue Jello to the remaining holes. Make sure to not combine the colors.
- Once all the Jello has been added to the cake, place the cake into the refrigerator. Chill for at least 1 hour. It is best as it sits so this is a great cake to make ahead of time, even the night before.
- When you are ready to serve it, spread the Cool-Whip evenly over the top of the cake for frosting. Sprinkle with the red & blue sugar or sprinkles.
- Cut into evenly sized squares. This cake should be about 24 pieces. Serve immediately and enjoy!
- Store the remaining cake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
More Summer Desserts
Try these other similar recipes:
Patty says
Can this cake be frozen ahead of time?
Angela says
Hi, The cake itself can be baked and frozen. Once defrosted you can add the gelatin & frost. I would not freeze it with the Jello already added. I hope that helps. Enjoy.
Tammy says
I love that you used jell-o mixed rather than dyes! It adds a fun extra flavor to the cake as well 😀 Happy 4th!