Strawberry Shortcake Poke Cake

Here’s a poke cake with all the great flavor of strawberry shortcake. It’s easy to make too!

Tis The Season For Strawberries

We are at the height of strawberry season so there’s been lots of sales.

I openly admit my favorite flavor and berry is strawberry, and I try to take advantage of all the sales. Strawberries freeze well therefore, I always have a bag or two on hand in my freezer.

Having so many strawberries on hand, I’ve been looking for things to do with them that are different. While this cake only uses them as a garnish, you still get a blast of fresh-berry taste!

A Taste Of Summer

Strawberry shortcake is a classic summer dessert–nothing spells summer like that does!

It’s got to be one of the easiest desserts too. Especially if you use bakery biscuits and whipped topping.

However, I love these desserts when they are translated into something a bit different, and I fell in love with this cake idea when I saw it on Pinterest.

For one, a cake will stay fresher longer than a biscuit, which has about a 24-hour life span. Whats more, each bite of this cake gives you a burst of strawberry flavor because of the strawberry gelatine that’s infused throughout the cake.

Whipped Topping Or Real Cream

For the sake of stability in desserts such as this, I usually opt for whipped topping. Whipped topping is a lot more stable than simple whipped cream.

Bur recently I discovered a great product that stabilizes whipped cream. It’s called Instant Clear Gel. The first time I tried it, I was impressed with the results. For one thing, it doesn’t impart any flavor–which was my basic problem with the cream cheese stabilization method.

I used real stabilized whipped cream to frost this strawberry shortcake poke cake and I was not disappointed. Real cream adds a lovely flavor that’s somehow missing in the whipped toppings.

The Recipe

Strawberry Shortcake Poke Cake

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Author: Judith Hannemann

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 box (2-layer size) white cake mix (plus ingredients called for on the box)
• ½ cup cold water
• 1 cup boiling water
• small pkg (1) strawberry flavored gelatin mix
• Topping:
• 2 cups whipped topping -OR- 2 cups stabilized real whipped cream (recipe in notes)

Instructions

1. Make cake as directed on box, then let it cool completely.
2. Using a fork with large tunes (a meat serving fork is perfect), poke holes at 1-inch intervals over the top of the cake all the way to the bottom.
3. In a small bowl, mix the gelatin mix with the boiling water. Stir until sugar and gelatin are dissolved. Stir in the cold water.
4. Pour the gelatin mixture over the top of the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
5. Spread whipped topping or stabilized whipped cream over the top of the cake.
6. Garnish with fresh strawberries if desired. Chill until ready to serve.

Notes

To make stabilized whipped cream—chill a metal bowl and the beaters. Mix ¼ cup confectioners sugar and 1 tbs Instant Cleargel, blending well. Pour 1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream into the chilled bowl. Beat at medium speed until soft peaks form.Gradually add the sugar/Cleargel mixture. Continue beating until medium-stiff peaks form.

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