Make My Day Camp: Strawberry Cheesecake Poke Cake

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Strawberry Cheesecake Poke Cake

We were invited to an impromptu dinner party at Al and Cathy's, it was their neighbor Cindy's birthday so I volunteered to make a (quick and easy!) birthday cake - I didn't tell her it'd be quick and easy but that was my plan when I offered to bring cake hahahah. I was thinking in the back of my head that I'd do a simple poke cake with strawberry jello and cool whip frosting - when looking for my recipe I came across this different twist on a poke cake and thought I'd go out on a limb and try it (all in the name of research for new things to post LOL).

Just as quick and easy - the twist is that this recipe calls for both jello and pudding to be spread on top of a cake with holes poked all over the top. Oh, and because it's a birthday cake I decided to add sprinkles to the batter before baking the cake - you can never have too much going on with a birthday cake right? Stripes of red jello and cheesecake pudding, sprinkle batter, and a layer of strawberries - yum!

white cake mix, plus ingredients to make it according to the box
1 small box strawberry jello
1 cup boiling water
1 small box cheesecake instant pudding
1 1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 cup sliced strawberries, plus additional if you want to put on top of the cake
8 oz. cool whip

1. Bake the cake according to package directions in a 13x9" cake pan. The box said to bake for 35 minutes but I checked at 25 minutes and it was done. Cool completely.

2. Once cake is cool, poke holes all over the top (I used the bottom of a bamboo skewer). Combine 1 cup boiling water with the jello, once dissolved pour all over the cake making sure to cover all the holes. Next combine the pudding and milk and whisk until dissolved, about a minute. Spread over the cake, pushing down lightly to get the pudding into the holes, there will still be a layer on top that doesn't soak into the cake.