Christmas Poke Cake
Christmas Poke Cake is overflowing with a delicious sweet flavor and holiday spirit. It’s moist and tender and loaded with holiday cheer right down to the Christmas Peeps used to decorate it.
Although October is just now coming to an end, we’re already thinking about our Christmas treats. One of our favorite things about the holiday season is the sweets, and we love serving this delicious, festive cake wherever we go.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s moist and tender and full of sweet flavor.
- It’s super festive, with red and green colors and Christmas Peeps for decoration.
- It’s incredibly easy to make.
- It’s the perfect dessert for any holiday table.
🛒Ingredients
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This recipe uses simple ingredients that you can easily find at your local grocery store. We’re covering the highlights here, but you can find the complete ingredient list along with amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- White cake mix
- Christmas sprinkles
- Cherry gelatin
- Lime gelatin
- Whipped topping
- Christmas Peps
- Christmas sprinkles
🔪 How to Make Christmas Poke Cake
Making this cake is incredibly simple. Like all poke cakes, it’s quick, easy, and delicious!
Step 1: Make the Cake
Make the cake according to the package direction, adding Christmas sprinkles to the batter. Bake according to the package directions until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Step 2: Make the Gelatin
Combine 1 cup boiling water with cherry gelatin in a medium mixing bowl and stir until dissolved. Then, whisk in 1/2 cup cold water and set aside. Repeat the process for the lime gelatin.
Step 3: Poke and Fill
Using the end of a wooden spoon or a large straw, poke holes all over the cake. Then, spoon the gelatin into each hole, alternating between green and red, until all holes are filled. Then, chill for 3 to 4 hours.
Step 4: Decorate
Frost the cake with the whipped topping. Then, decorate with Christmas sprinkles and Christmas peeps. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- No Peeps – Some people don’t like Peeps, and that’s okay. Just leave them off. The color and sprinkles still make it festive!
- Different Holidays – You can use different colored gelatin and color your whipped topping for various holidays. Try orange gelatin and black whipped topping for Halloween, for example.
- Homemade Whipped Cream – If you’re feeling fancy, you can make your own whipped cream.
If you think this looks good, we think you’ll ove this cherry almond poke cake.
🥄 Equipment
You’ll only need a handful of basic kitchen items to make this recipe.
- Measuring cups and spoons.
- Wooden spoon
- Baking dish
- Mixing bowls
- Spatula
🥫 Storage
Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. For longer storage, store leftovers in an air-tight, freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
💭 Tips
This easy recipe only has a couple of tips. Don’t skip them. They’ll make your life much easier.
- A small teaspoon or a small food syringe is the easiest method of getting the gelatin into the cake.
- Be sure you only poke your holes 1/2 to 3/4 of the way down into the cake. You need to be able to slice the cake.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
A poke cake is a cake that has holes poked in it and then filled with a filling – usually gelatin.
Supposedly, the first poke cake recipe was printed in a 1981 issue of Bon Appetit. Jello ran an ad that featured a two-layer cake that had been poked with a fork and had Jello poured over it.
Depending on the kind, poke cakes are generally good in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy poke cake? Then try these delicious recipes.
📌 PIN IT!!
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Christmas Poke Cake
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Wooden spoon
- Baking dish
- mixing bowls
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounces white cake mix made per the directions on the box
- 1 tablespoon Christmas sprinkles
- 3 ounces cherry gelatin
- 3 ounces lime gelatin
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup cold water
- 8 oucnes whipped topping thawed
- Christmas peeps
- Christmas Sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare the cake mix according to the box directions and stir in the 1 tablespoon of Christmas sprinkles.
- Spray a 9×13 baking dish.
- Pour in the cake mix and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool the cake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the jello.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine 1 cup boiling water with cherry jello and stir until dissolved.
- Whisk in ½ cup cold water to the cherry gelatin and set aside.
- In a separate bowl repeat the above with the lime jello and set aside.
- Using the end of a wooden spoon or a large straw poke holes all over the cake.
- Spoon the jello in the holes, I like to alternate red in one hole, green in another until they are all filled.
- Refrigerate the cake covered for 3-4 hours to set.
- Frost the cake with the whipped topping.
- Decorate the cake with more sprinkles and Christmas peeps.
- Serve!!
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
Strawberry or cherry jello will work.
I like to either spoon in the jello or use a little food syringe to get the jello into the holes evenly.
You can make your whipped topping from scratch or even use a white frosting if you prefer. Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
