Everyone’s favorite cake, dressed up in patriotic colors.
We’ve all seen red-white-and-blue cakes for the Fourth of July. Usually, they’re just a basic white cake topped with strawberries and blueberries. This is easy and tasty, and it makes a colorful centerpiece for your picnic spread.
But I wanted to take this idea to its next level. I wanted a way of turning the cake itself red, white, and blue – without all the hassle of baking and stacking three different layers.
It turns out, the perfect way to do this is with a poke cake.
If you poke holes in your cake, mix up batches of strawberry gelatin and berry blue gelatin, and drizzle both of them into the cake while they’re still liquid, you end up with a cake that has all three colors soaked right in. And the gelatin gives it a splash of fruity flavor at the same time.
Top the cake with white cream-cheese icing, sliced strawberries, and blueberries, and it looks just like any other red-white-and-blue cake from the outside. But when you first slice into it and reveal the color that goes all the way through, you’ll hear oohs and aahs like the fireworks show has started early.
Red White and Blue Poke Cake
INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix, prepared to package instructions
1 package (3oz) package strawberry gelatin
1 package (3oz) package berry blue gelatin
2 cups boiling water (for gelatin)
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese
3/4 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
8 ounces whipped topping, thawed
1 quart strawberries, chopped
2 cups blueberries
DIRECTIONS:
1. Start by baking the cake in 13×9 pan according to package instructions. Allow to fully cool.
2. Using a fork or a straw, poke holes over the top of the cake.
3. Next, in 2 separate bowls, mix the blue and red gelatin each with 1 cup of boiling water until dissolved.
4. Spoon each color of gelatin over the cake, making sure to pour over the holes. TIP: The best way to do this is a row of blue, then a row of red and alternate so you get a colorful mix of red and blue in the cake. It’s good to spoon over each row 2-3 times to make sure the color shows up well.
5. Next, mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of milk. Hand stir in the whipped topping. Spread out cream cheese mixture over the cake. Top with rows of strawberries and blueberries.
6. Chill for 4 hours before serving.
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Red White and Blue Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 18.25 ounce package white cake mix, prepared to package instructions
- 1 package (3oz) package strawberry gelatin
- 1 package (3oz) package berry blue gelatin
- 2 cups boiling water for gelatin
- 2 8oz packages cream cheese
- 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 8 ounces whipped topping, thawed
- 1 quart strawberries, chopped
- 2 cups blueberries
Instructions
- Start by baking the cake in 13x9 pan according to package instructions. Allow to fully cool.
- Using a fork or a straw, poke holes over the top of the cake.
- Next, in 2 separate bowls, mix the blue and red gelatin each with 1 cup of boiling water until dissolved.
- Spoon each color of gelatin over the cake, making sure to pour over the holes. TIP: The best way to do this is a row of blue, then a row of red and alternate so you get a colorful mix of red and blue in the cake. It's good to spoon over each row 2-3 times to make sure the color shows up well.
- Next, mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of milk. Hand stir in the whipped topping. Spread out cream cheese mixture over the cake. Top with rows of strawberries and blueberries.
- Chill for 4 hours before serving.
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Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Lisa thompson says
that looks beautiful and yummy!, I will have to try that next year, this years cheesecake’s already in the freezer