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Red, White, and Blue Poke Cake is a retro recipe from the 60s. Vanilla or Yellow Cake is baked, poked full of holes, filled with a jello mixture, a layer of creamy vanilla pudding and topped off with Cool Whip! It’s called “Yum-Yum Cake” at this nest and it’s a favorite!

The good thing about being “old”… I mean “older”…is that you remember the original poke cake of the 1960s!

Can you believe they have actually been around for 50 years! It’s okay…we’ll let the younger generation think they invented the concept.  (Just like some people think they invented the web! Oooooh Girl!…no she didn’t?)

It’s one of my all-time favorite cake recipes. I decided to give it a little holiday make-over for all of you. I added chopped maraschino cherries to the white cake mix, then filled the pokes with blueberry gelatin.

How To Make Traditional Poke Cake

You’ll need one white cake mix. Follow the directions on the package for the cake and prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish.

On a paper towel drain 10 -12 maraschino cherries. Chop them into small pieces.  Carefully fold the cherries into your white cake batter.

Tip: Don’t mix too much. You don’t want your white cake batter to turn pink. Just a few good folds and you’ll have them mixed in.

Pour the cake batter into a prepared 9 x 13 pan, sprayed with baking spray, and bake at 325° for 30 minutes.

TIP: Test the cake by gently pressing the center. If it springs back… it is done.  You can also test it by poking a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick is clean, it’s done.

Remove the cake from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Poke holes into the warm cake.

Tip: I used a paper straw to poke holes into my cake. You can also use the handle of a wooden spoon!

Mix one small box of jello with 1 and 1/2 cups of hot water until gelatin has dissolved. I used Blueberry to create this Red, White, and Blue cake…but you can use any flavor you want.

Using a large spoon to drizzle the warm gelatin over the cake making sure to drizzle it down in the holes.

I know that the “new” method is to use a syringe to fill the holes. You really do not need to go to all that work! It’s okay if it goes all over the top of the cake. It doesn’t soak all the way through the entire cake. The majority is going to go down into those holes.

Once you have drizzled the top of the cake with the gelatin, place the cake in the refrigerator and allow it to set up for 30 – 45 minutes.

In a medium bowl mix together 1 large package of instant vanilla pudding with 1 and 1/2 cups of cold milk. Whisk until thick. Spread on top of cake. This is one of my favorite elements of this cake…the cool pudding layer. YUM!

Top with one 8 oz. container of Cool Whip Non-dairy topping.  You can sprinkle with coconut if you like. Our Nest isn’t full of coconut fans, so I leave it off. (I love it…just not the kiddos. Kids!)

Refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight.

One of the things I LOVE about this Red, White, and Blue Poke cake is that it is served COLD!

It’s SO heavenly on a hot summer day! The cake is amazingly moist and the cool layer of creamy vanilla pudding and cool whip is dreamy!

I garnished mine with a maraschino cherry and a couple fresh blueberries to keep with the patriotic look.

Great Fourth of July Recipes

• Fourth of July Treats and Eats
• Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Inside Out Bacon Cheese Burgers
• 4th of July Round-Up
• American Flag Layered Dip from Soulfully Made

It’s the perfect Memorial Day, Labor Day, or 4th of July dessert for kids… big and little! 😉 Enjoy!

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