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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
Level up on a classic dessert with this Christmas-themed Jello Poke Cake! Easy, colourful, and delicious, this is the perfect cake to make for your next holday party. The best part is, you can use this fun technique as a bouncing off point for countless flavour combinations.
Why not try making your own whipped cream for the topping? Try a Bisquick™ Coffee Cake or a simple Apple Dump Cake for other easy cake options. Check out this Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake for another brightly coloured holiday dessert.
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This is a super easy recipe. You could even have your kids help with the mixing and pouring.
- Total Time: A few minutes of prep plus the baking time for whatever cake mix or cake recipe you use. Approximately 40 minutes, plus some time for the cake to chill in the fridge.
- Variations: While this specific recipe is Christmas-themed and uses red and green Jello, this type of cake has limitless variations! Any Jello flavour will work, so use one or combine them to your hearts delight. You can also try with an instant pudding or pie filling for a richer dessert. Try a Spice Cake with some instant butterscotch pudding, or a Chocolate Cake Recipe with pistachio pudding.
- Tools Needed: You’ll need a 9×13 cake pan and a large mixing bowl. You’ll also need a couple of smaller bowls for dissolving the individual Jello flavours.
What You’ll Need For Ingredients
Cake: A boxed mix plus the ingredients needed for it (usually eggs, oil, and water), or your own homemade cake.
Jello: Lime and Cherry are the flavours of choice for this recipe, since we’re looking for Christmas colors.
Whipped Topping: Either premade whipped topping or homemade whipped cream will work here.
Sprinkles: Something fun and seasonal. Sparkly or shaped like trees, gold or silver balls, whatever you want.
How To Make Jello Poke Cake
This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Bake cake according to the directions on the box or your chosen recipe.
- Let the cake cool slightly. Poke evenly spaced holes into the cake with the handle of a wooden spoon or something similar.
- Dissolve Jello mixes in two separate bowls, pour into the holes in the cake, alternating rows of red and green. Chill for several hours or overnight.
- Cover with whipped topping and sprinkles.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks For Making Jello Poke Cake
Make Your Own Cake: This recipe calls for a cake mix because sometimes it’s lovely to have the easiest option. But if you’re feeling up to it, this process can be used with a homemade cake and really whatever instant gelatin or pudding you’d like to use.
Chill Out: This is a cake that gets better with time spent in the fridge! The Jello soaks into the cake and makes yummy pockets of flavour. And, since there’s extra moisture in there, it doesn’t tend to dry out in the fridge as quickly as a lot of other cakes.
Have Fun: If you’d like something other than premade whipped topping, try this Strawberry Whipped Cream for extra colour or The BEST Cream Cheese Icing for a zingier alternative. Take the process in this recipe and make it your own!
Storage Instructions
This cake can be stored in the fridge in a covered container for several days. However, it is unlikely to freeze well.
More Delicious Cake Recipes
Looking for more delicious Cake recipes? Try these out:
Make a Sour Cream Coffee Cake to have with your morning coffee or brunch with friends.
This Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe is a little twist on the pound cake you may have grown up with.
Try a classic Chocolate Cake and maybe even poke some holes in it to add Jello or pudding.
There you go, everyone. Now you’ve got some fun ideas for colourful and tasty cakes to serve up this holiday season. Try these recipes and ideas out and let me know how they work for you.
Happy Baking!
Karlynn
Jello Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix , PLUS any ingredients listed on box
- 1 box cherry Jello
- 1 box lime Jello
- 2 cups boiling water, divided
- one 8 ounce tub whipped topping
- Christmas sprinkles of choice
Instructions
- Prepare the white cake mix according to the box directions for a 9×13 cake.
- Once the cake has been baked according to the box instructions, let it cool slightly.
- Poke the cake with the handle of a small wooden spoon or a chopstick, until there are holes all over the top.
- Place the gelatin flavors in two separate bowls. Pour 1 cup boiling water into each gelatin; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in two normal sized ice cubes until melted to cool down.
- Carefully pour some of the cherry gelatin in one straight line over the poked holes from one end of the cake pan to the other. Alternate next with the green gelatin, trying not to pour over top of the red gelatin, Repeat in lines until the gelatin is used up.
- Chill 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Refrigerate until ready to serve
- Top with whipped cream and Christmas sprinkles when ready to serve.
Notes
- mix and match the Jellos as you see fit for color and flavor!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Debbie says
Also try this with lemon instant pie mix. Cook as directed when still pour label overcake