Delight your guests with a stunning Red, White, and Blue Poke Cake, perfect for patriotic holidays and a crowd-pleasing dessert. Serve this Red, White, and Blue Poke Cake for an explosion of color. It’s ideal for patriotic holidays like the 4th of July or Memorial Day. Each slice of this cake will show off its vibrant hues of red and blue. It’s topped with a fluffy white whipped frosting adorned with red, white, and blue sprinkles. It’s an easy make-ahead dessert that’s always a crowd pleaser!
This cake is so delicious because it’s saturated with vanilla pudding, making it moist, sweet, and completely scrumptious. The baked and cooled red and blue cake base is poked with holes to create this texture. Then, it is infused with vanilla pudding. As the cake sits, it absorbs the pudding and becomes tender, moist, and even more flavorful. The icing caps this beautiful cake with a mound of whipped topping. This gives it a light and airy texture. It’s a luscious way to enjoy this holiday dessert.
This cake is easy to make with basic pantry ingredients. It’s a crafty way to prepare a sweet treat for a holiday celebration. Food coloring transforms the cake batter into a red and blue extravaganza. The vanilla pudding gives the baked cake a succulent sponge cake texture. Slather the top with bright white whipped topping. Add colorful decoration with festive red, white, and blue sprinkles.
Poke cakes are easy to make, especially for holidays! If you love poke cakes, check out my Christmas Poke Cake. You should also see my Red Velvet Poke Cake, perfect for Valentine’s Day. Additionally, try my Pumpkin Cheesecake Jello Pudding Poke Cake for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Ingredients Needed
A box of White Cake Mix, plus the ingredients listed on the box (water, oil, eggs).
Red and Blue Food Coloring – Use gel food coloring for a more vibrant outcome.
Box of Cheesecake Flavored Instant Pudding – can also use vanilla flavored pudding.
Milk – Combine with the powdered pudding mix.
Container of Whipped Topping – for the frosting layer.
Red, White, Blue Sprinkles – decorate the cake’s top.
How To Make The Red, White, and Blue Poke Cake
Note: This is a summary of the steps. For full instructions, see the recipe card down below.
How To Poke Holes In The Cake
Use a large diameter straw. Alternatively, use the end of a wooden spoon to poke holes in the baked and cooled cake. You want the holes large enough to let the thick vanilla pudding seep into the cake. The holes should prevent the pudding from pooling on top. Be sure to space the holes out far enough. You don’t want the cake to become overly saturated with the pudding. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a soggy cake! To keep the base of the cake intact, do not poke holes in the bottom. This prevents any leaks.
How To Decorate The Top Of The Cake
While this recipe calls for a dusting of red, white, and blue sprinkles, you can take it further. If serving for Independence Day, make a flag decoration. Use fresh blueberries for the stars on the top left of the cake. Arrange sliced fresh strawberries for the flag’s stripes.
Can I Make This Cake Ahead?
Yes, and you should! The cake must be baked and cooled before being poked with holes and filled with pudding. Then it needs 4 hours in the fridge to allow the pudding to saturate the cake base. Make it the night before or the morning of your event. Add the whipped topping and sprinkles just before serving.
Variations
You can easily switch up the cake base colors. Change the themed sprinkles, too. This dessert is easy and delectable. You can make it for other occasions or holidays. Here are a few ideas:
- For Halloween, use orange and yellow food coloring and top with orange and black sprinkles
- For Christmas, use red and green food coloring and festive sprinkles
- For Valentine’s Day, use red and pink food coloring and heart sprinkles
- For a baby shower, use light blue and pink food coloring and pink and blue sprinkles
Is This Cake Freezer-Friendly?
You can freeze this cake, without the whipped topping and decorative sprinkles, for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and add the topping and sprinkles before serving.
Storage
Store, covered, in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. You can freeze this cake without the topping for up to 3 months.
More Easy 4th of July Dessert Recipes
4th of July Fruit Pizza
Patriotic Windmill Cupcakes
Flag Poke Cake Recipe
4th of July Cookie Cake
American Flag Cupcakes
Red White And Blue Cake
Red, White, and Blue Dipped Marshmallows
Red White and Blue Poke Cake
This Red, White, and Blue Poke Cake is perfect for all of those upcoming summer parties. White cake mix is colored red and blue and filled with white cheesecake pudding. Topped with whipped cream and festive sprinkles, this cake is always a hit at summer cookouts.
Ingredients
- 1 box (15.25) ounce white cake mix plus the ingredients the box calls for (water, oil, eggs)
- Red and blue food coloring
- 3.4 ounce box cheesecake flavored instant pudding
- 2 cups milk
- 8 ounce container whipped topping
- Red, white, blue sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
- Combine the cake mix with the water, eggs, and oil in a large bowl, according to the instructions on the package.
- Separate the cake batter into two bowls.
- Dye one bowl of batter blue and the other red.
- Place spoonfuls of the batter in the cake pan, alternating colors.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the instant pudding and milk until smooth.
- Using a large straw or the end of a spoon, poke holes all over the cake.
- I like to fill a Ziploc bag with the pudding, cut off a small corner, and pipe it into the cake's holes, but you can also just spoon it into the holes.
- Cover and set in the fridge for 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, top with the whipped topping and sprinkles.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
Tips and Tricks
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- You can freeze this cake for up to 3 months.
- You can use a yellow cake mix if you prefer, but you may need to use more food coloring to achieve the desired color.
- You can use white chocolate pudding as well.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 142Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 9mgSodium 113mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 0gSugar 11gProtein 3g
