Strawberries and Cream Poke Cake

Hooray for strawberry season, and hooray for beautiful warm spring weather, am I right! It’s a great time of year, for sure.

I brought along a fabulous warm weather dessert to share with you all today. It would make a great addition to your Memorial Day menu lineup. This Strawberries and Cream Poke cake features a heavenly white cake, infused with strawberry flavor, topped with a creamy whipped frosting and layered with fresh strawberries. It’s wonderful, friends. My family loved it.

Hope yours does too!

Let’s make it!

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make the cake, pour into your stand mixer or large mixing bowl, 1 white cake mix, 1/3 C flour, and 1 box instant vanilla pudding. Toss together to combine.
3. Add 1/3 C oil, 1 1/2 C water, 1/3 C sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla and 4 egg whites. Mix on low for 2 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until the batter is nice and glossy.
4. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and pour the batter into it. Smooth it out with a knife.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes of until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes, then poke holes through it with a fork, about 1/2 an inch apart.

6. Boil 3/4 C water in a large glass measuring cup (in the microwave). Pour 1 (6 ounce) box strawberry jello into the water and stir until the jello is dissolved. Add 1/2 C cold water and stir until combined.

7. Pour the jello water all over the top of the cake, as evenly as you can.

It will turn a pretty shade of pink for you. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

7. To make the creamy topping, place 1/2 C softened butter into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add 3 C powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 4 Tb milk and a dash of salt. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add 1 (8 ounce) package of cool whip (completely thawed). Mix well to combine. Spread it evenly over the chilled cake.

8. Slice 1 (16 ounce) container of fresh strawberries and lay them over the top of the cake. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Serve and enjoy!