Summer Berry Poke Cake is a colorful twist on a classic poke cake, filled with homemade berry sauce, cheesecake filling and whipped cream and fresh berries topping. Red, white, and blue color combo makes it perfect as patriotic dessert for 4th of July, or any summer potluck or party.
For more berry flavored patriotic dessert, check my No Bake Summer Berry Lasagna or Very Berry Dessert Lasagna.
Triple Berry Poke Cake
Summer is perfect time for berry dessert with plenty of fresh and juicy blueberries, raspberries and strawberries in the season.
Strawberry, raspberry and blueberry filling, white cake mix and irresistible cheesecake and whipped cream topping are delicious and refreshing combo for summer dessert. However, you can make this cake with frozen fruits all year round.
What is A Poke Cake?
Poke cake was very popular dessert in the 1970s. This retro dessert was traditionally made with a boxed white or yellow cake mix, a tub of Cool-Whip and a box of Jell-O.
When the cake is baked, it’s poked, then filled with a Jell-o pudding or fruit flavoured gelatine and topped with plenty of whipped topping. Jell-O poured down the holes, gives it a striped look if you slice through the row of holes.
Ingredients for Berry Poke Cake
- Cake mix-using cake mix makes this recipe much easier to prepare, but homemade berry sauce takes it to another level. Do you have to use white cake mix? No! You can use any flavour you like, but white cake base allows red and blue berry sauce to show and look nice and festive, especially if you need a patriotic dessert for holidays. But any cake mix that you love will work.
- Berries-strawberries, blueberries and raspberries are great combo. You can add red currant, blackberries, or other fruit to your taste. Also you can use fresh or frozen fruits, what ever you have on hand, depending on season.
- Gelatin powder- to thicken the sauce.
- Sugar and some fresh lemon juice.
- Cream cheese and heavy whipping cream- for the filling and topping. Adding cream cheese to the filling makes it much better than plain whipped cream.
How to Store the Cake and Leftovers
Poke cake is the best to make a day ahead before serving to allow soak well and set. You can store it up to a week covered in the fridge.
This Summer Berry Poke Cake is easy to transfer and serve, what makes it perfect for summer picnics and potlucks. It is light, airy and very refreshing. The cake is bursting with berry flavour and tangy cream cheese whipped cream topping is perfect for a warm summer days.
