How to make an easy, jello-infused raspberry poke cake that’s light and fluffy with a simple whipped topping. Moist and colorful Jello cake that’s bursting to the brim with fresh berry flavor. This is an irresistibly delicious raspberry dessert recipe that will become a family-favorite for potlucks, family gatherings, holiday dinners or any other special events!
My whole family loves poke cake because it’s quick, easy and delicious. Plus, you can make it any flavor you want! I make an orange Jello poke cake, a lemon poke cake and sometimes even a red, white and blue strawberry poke cake for the 4th of July!
In case you’ve never heard of a poke cake before, poke cake is basically just a cake with holes poked all over it after baking. Then a liquid or syrup (Jello in this recipe) is poured all over the top so that it can seep down into the holes and infuse into the cake. Then it’s usually chilled for a few hours or overnight to create an unbelievably moist cake with unbeatable flavor.
Why You Need This Raspberry Jello Cake Recipe
- This recipe is simple, fast and easy to make. It uses budget-friendly ingredients that you may already have in your pantry!
- It makes a cool and refreshing spring or summer dessert using a raspberry-infused vanilla cake mix.
- Raspberry poke cake is actually best made ahead, so it makes the perfect sweet treat for any holiday, church potluck, family gathering or other special event. Think Valentine’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day or even the 4th of July!
- This recipe is super versatile. You can actually use any flavor Jello or cake mix you want for the ultimate customizability!
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
This recipe uses simple ingredients, so you may already have everything you need…
- Vanilla Cake Mix – You can make a homemade vanilla cake mix, or even this classic yellow cake, but I usually just use a vanilla cake mix from the store.
- Water, Eggs and Canola Oil – How much water, eggs and canola oil you use is actually dependent on the cake mix you use. Some recipes call for whole milk instead of water, and others call for butter instead of canola oil. Although I give rough ingredient amounts, be sure to follow the package directions for your cake mix.
- Raspberry Jello Mix – I use raspberry-flavored gelatin mix for this recipe. Once you’ve baked the cake, you’ll pour the Jello mixture on top of the cake and let it soak in for the ultimate raspberry-infused flavor!
- Cool Whip – For the sake of ease, I use Cool Whip for this recipe. You can also use homemade whipped cream or Dream Whip.
- Raspberries – Once it’s chilled, I like to top off my raspberry poke cake with rinsed and dried, fresh red raspberries. They’re so sweet and delicious!
How to Make Raspberry Poke Cake
Before getting started, preheat your oven to 350ºF, and grease up a 9×13 cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Let’s get started…
How to Bake the Vanilla Cake Mix
- Following the directions for your boxed cake mix, mix up the vanilla cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer on medium speed. Mix only until well combined, and take care not to over-mix your cake batter. This can weaken the structure and cause your cake to fall after baking.
- Pour your cake batter into the pan that you greased up in the first step.
- Bake it at 350ºF for around 28-33 minutes, or ’til a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once it’s fully baked, remove from the oven and let the cake cool for about 15-20 minutes.
Add the Jello-Infused Topping
- While your cake is cooling, go ahead and whisk your raspberry gelatin mix into the boiling water in a large glass measuring cup or small bowl.
- Add in the cold water and whisk until the all of the Jello powder is fully dissolved. This may take a few minutes.
- Once your cake has cooled, use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake. Try to space your holes about 1-2 inches apart.
- Next, pour your Jello mixture slowly and evenly all over the entire cake. Let it cool completely.
- Use a spatula to spread the Cool Whip or other whipped topping over the top of your raspberry poke cake.
- Once you’ve spread your whipped topping over the cake, I recommend covering your poke cake with plastic wrap or a lid that fits your cake pan, and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least a few hours or even overnight.
You can serve the cake immediately, but poke cake is much better chilled. This gives the toppings plenty of time to soak in for the best Jello-infused poke cake you’ll ever eat!
How to Serve Raspberry Jello Poke Cake
Once fully chilled, slice your raspberry poke cake into individual pieces, and serve it up with a pile of fresh raspberries. This easy dessert is just so sweet and refreshing, and the great thing is that it doesn’t take very long to make!
You can also serve up your raspberry Jello cake with a mixed berry salad on the side. Bonus points if you throw in a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream!
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ’s
Assuming that you didn’t over-mix your cake batter, this is most likely because your cake was underbaked. Remember, it’s only done when a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
This can happen if you poke the holes on top of the cake too closely together. Try to keep them about 1-2 inches apart, no more and no less. If your holes are spaced adequately far apart, the cake is not underbaked, and you’re still having issues, I recommend looking into this great guide with some tips and tricks on how to avoid a wet cake.
Raspberry poke cake is best stored in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days in the refrigerator. It’s actually best served cold, so I chill mine for a while before serving anyways.
Yes, you can freeze Jello cake. The best way to do this to freeze it before you add the whipped topping. Once you’ve poured on your Jello mixture, cover the cake with plastic wrap or with a lid that fits your cake pan. Then place it into the freezer for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to serve, transfer it to the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Then spread the Cool Whip and serve!
Recipe Variations
Looking for ways to switch up this raspberry Jello poke cake recipe? Here are a few ideas…
- Remember, you can use any flavor Jello you want. Think orange, strawberry, lemon, cherry, or lime gelatin mix. You can also use berry blue Jello to make this a blue raspberry Jello cake.
- You can also use whatever flavor cake mix you want. French vanilla, Funfetti, red velvet, chocolate or even a lemon cake mix would all go really well with the raspberry flavor in this recipe.
- For an even sweeter, richer flavor, swap out the gelatin mix with instant pudding, and top everything off with a can of raspberry pie filling or raspberry preserves!
- I’ve also always wanted to try making Jello cake with angel food cake instead of a cake mix, sort of like my strawberry angel delight.
- Make it a raspberry zinger poke cake by sprinkling a generous helping of shredded coconut over the frosting!
More Jello Recipes
- Looking for more delicious recipes using Jello? You can’t go wrong with plain old Jello from the box.
- My mom used to make Jello with fruit inside, and all the grandkids practically begged her to make it every time we got together!
- These cookie cutter Jello Jigglers are really fun to make with kids!
- If you like Jello, you’ll love Jello salad. I make Mandarin orange Jello salad, strawberry cottage cheese salad and even an easy strawberry fluff salad with Jello.
- My whole family loves this no bake strawberry Jello Cool Whip pie…
- Strawberry Jello mix is the secret ingredient to my favorite strawberry Rice Krispie treats!
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Raspberry Poke Cake
Equipment
- Electric Stand Mixer optional
- cake tester optional
- Dinner Fork for poking holes
Ingredients
- 1 Vanilla Cake Mix
- 1 cup Water*
- 3 Large Eggs*
- 1/2 cup Canola Oil*
- 3 ounces Raspberry Jello Mix
- 1 cup Boiling Water
- 1/2 cup Cold Water
- 8 ounces Cool Whip
- 1 pint Red Raspberries
Instructions
How to Make the Cake
- Before getting started, preheat your oven to 350ºF, and grease up a 9×13 cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix up the vanilla cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer on medium speed.*
- Pour your cake batter into the pan that you greased up in the first step.
- Bake it at 350ºF for around 28-33 minutes, or 'til a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Once your cake is fully baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 15-20 minutes.
How to Make the Jello-Infused Topping
- While your cake is cooling, go ahead and whisk your raspberry gelatin mix into the boiling water in a large measuring cup or small bowl.
- Add in the cold water and whisk until all of the Jello powder is fully dissolved. This may take a few minutes.
- Once your cake has cooled, use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake. Try to space your holes about 1-2 inches apart.
- Next, pour your Jello mixture slowly and evenly over the top of the cake and let it cool completely.
- Use a spatula to spread the Cool Whip or other whipped topping over the top of your raspberry poke cake.
- Once you've spread your whipped topping over the cake, cover your poke cake with plastic wrap or a lid that fits your cake pan, and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least a few hours or even overnight.
- Once fully chilled, slice up and serve your raspberry poke cake with a pile of fresh raspberries!
