Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake

a slice of strawberry poke cake on a spatula

Need a refreshing sweet treat? This strawberry crunch poke cake recipe is light, refreshing and delicious. You'll love the cookie crumble on top.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword box cake mix recipe, easy strawberry cake, poke cake recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Chill Time 4 hours

Servings

Calories 462kcal

Author Julie Clark

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 box white cake mix 15.25 ounces
3 large eggs
2 ½ cups heavy cream divided
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 box strawberry gelatin powder 3 ounces
1 cup boiling water

For the topping:

8 ounces whipped topping 1 tub
20 vanilla sandwich cookies golden Oreos or store brand cookies
2 ½ tablespoons strawberry syrup I used Smuckers strawberry ice cream syrup

For garnishing:

whipped topping
fresh strawberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl beat together the cake mix, eggs, 1 ½ cups of heavy cream and vegetable oil with a hand or stand mixer until fully smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed
Spread the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top bounces back when gently tapped or a toothpick comes out of the middle of the cake with only a few crumbs. Do not overbake.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes.
Once the cake has cooled for 20 minutes, poke several large holes all over it with the bottom of a stirring spoon. Do not poke all the way to the bottom of the cake, only poke about ¾ of the way down.
Pour the strawberry gelatin powder into a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk in the boiling water until dissolved.
Gradually add in the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream, whisking constantly, until it is all added and combined. You should have a dark pink, creamy liquid.
Pour the warm mixture over the cake slowly, being sure to fill the holes as much as possible and avoiding the edges of the cake.
Spread any remaining liquid sitting on the top of the cake into the holes.
Cover well and place in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours or overnight.
When ready to cut and serve the cake, remove from the refrigerator, uncover and spread the whipped topping all over the top.
Place the cookies in a food processor and pulse 1-2 times to begin to crush them.
Pour in the strawberry syrup and pulse several more times until the cookies are roughly crumbled and the syrup is mixed in. You will have a white and pink crumble mixture.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the whipped topping, spreading gently if necessary to reach all the edges, and then cut and serve with fresh strawberries and whipped topping, optional.
Store this cake covered in the refrigerator until serving.

Notes

Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.

The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 15 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**

Nutrition