Poke Cake

Strawberries & Cream Poke Cake

Fourth of July is right around the corner and that means it is summer party season! I absolutely love this time of year. Days sat around the pool, getting together with friends, and the awesome party food. Burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, garlic bread… yumm! But what is a summer BBQ without an amazing summer dessert? Crap. That’s what it is. I kid! I kid! For real though, every good bbq needs a good dessert. Like this one.

Beings that strawberries are in season this makes it the perfect summer dessert. If you have never made a poke cake then this recipe is a must try. It is so easy to make! You literally just poke holes into the baked cake and all the Jello just fills in the holes and soaks into the cake. It is incredibly moist and it just looks so pretty once you cut into it. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost. 😉

INGREDIENTS
1 box white cake mix (as well as any ingredients it requires)
3 oz package strawberry Jello
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
fresh strawberries, sliced

STEPS

Prepare white cake per the package instructions in a 9” x 13” large square or rectangular baking dish and allow it to cool.
Bring one cup of water to a boil and remove from heat.
Add Jello to the hot water and stir until completely dissolved.
Add one more cup of cold water to the Jello mix, continue to stir, and set aside.
Using a fork, poke several holes into the cake.
Pour the Jello evenly over the top of the cake.
Cover the cake with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.
After the cake has set, combine the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat until the whip cream thickens up.
Spread the whip cream over the top of the cake and then garnish with sliced strawberries as desired.
Serve and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Chef in Training.

This cake should be called the Devil’s cake. Because that is exactly what it is. It will suck you in and you won’t be able to resist it’s evil chocolately goodness! My husband loves his sweets but isn’t much of a cake guy. (How did I ever marry him?!?!) Just kidding, I love my husband, so much so that I was on the hunt for the PERFECT birthday cake for him. One of his favorite candy bars is a Snickers so I knew if I could make a cake that even remotely resembled a Snickers bar, he would probably like it. I think I gained 10 pounds just making this cake because I was indulging myself while putting it together. That is part of being a good cook right? Taste everything you serve. Well I did. I tasted the cake batter, the caramel sauce, the chocolate chips, the chopped snickers, the whipped cream, etc. I was so bad, and it was soooo good! Every layer of it! If you are or have a Snickers lover in your family bake them this cake. They will love you forever, unless they are on a diet. This is a fabulous cake, not a diet cake.

Note: This cake can be made a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

INGREDIENTS
16.5 oz box of Duncan Hines Devil’s Food cake mix
1 c water
1/3 c vegetable oil
3 eggs
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
12 oz jar Smucker’s Hot Caramel ice cream topping sauce
1 c chocolate chips
1 pt heavy whipping cream
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 Snickers candy bars, chopped
1/2 c peanuts, coarsely chopped
caramel sauce
chocolate sauce

STEPS

Preheat oven to 350º.
In a large mixing bowl beat together the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs at medium speed for 2 1/2 minutes.
Pour the cake batter into a greased 9” x 13” Pyrex.
Bake the cake for 25–30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
While the cake is baking mix together the condensed milk and jar of caramel sauce until thoroughly blended.
When the cake is done cooking, but still hot, poke 20–30 holes in the cake using a straw.
Pour the caramel sauce over the entire cake.
Allow the cake to finish cooling completely.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the cake.
In a medium mixing bowl beat together the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla at high speed until it is nice and thick, about 3–5 minutes.
Fold the chopped Snickers into the whipped topping.
Spread the whipped topping over the top of the cake.
Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the top and drizzle with caramel and chocolate sauce.
Place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.