Strawberry Poke Cake happens to be one of my new favorite cakes! Every hole in this cake is filled with creamy and decadent sweetened condensed milk and strawberry sauce! Then there’s a layer of whipped topping! It’s made with a cake mix, which means it’s super easy, and it’s best if it’s made ahead of time! #winning
Today has been a crazy day of being stuck in the office. I have no idea what I’ll come up with for a quick dinner idea. It has to be something easy…I’m looking at you Pizza Sliders or Microwave Beef Burritos! Who cares what we are having for dinner anyway, the important question is what are we having for dessert?
Easy Strawberry Poke Cake that’s what on tap for dessert and I couldn’t be more excited!
Usually, I’m a chocolate dessert only kind of girl. Let’s be honest for a minute if a dessert has fruit it should really be called breakfast! Please don’t judge me! This cake though, it’s so luscious it truly does count as dessert and a dang good one at that!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
watch the video to see how to make poke cakes
NOTE: This recipe was originally posted in 2017. I updated this post in 2019 to include a how to video and new photos. The only thing I changed in the recipe is using real whipped cream instead of frozen whipped topping. Enjoy!
ingredients for strawberry poke cake
- Strawberry Cake Mix + Ingredients to Make It– any brand, if you don’t have a strawberry cake mix use vanilla or white cake mix. Chocolate cake mix would make a delicious Chocolate Strawberry Poke Cake!
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – be sure to use sweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk
- Strawberry Topping – find it near the ice cream toppings or from Amazon {affiliate link}. You can also use strawberry pie filling {affiliate link}
- Heavy Whipping Cream – I’m a dairy farmer so I always use the real stuff. If you really need to you can use frozen whipped topping.
how to make a strawberry poke cake
- Make and bake the cake in a 9 x 13 pan according to directions on the box.
- Mix sweetened condensed milk and strawberry topping together.
- While the cake is still warm, poke holes in about an inch apart with the end of a wooden spoon.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk mixture over the cake making sure it fills the holes as much as possible.
- Let the cake cool.
- Whip cream with sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped topping over cake.
- Garnish as desired.
- Refrigerate for 2 or more hours. My family likes this cake best the next day.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
tips for making and storing poke cakes
- Poke cakes are best if they are made ahead of time! Yay! The sauce has time to do its thing and helps make the cake extra moist!
- Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes in the top of the cake. Make sure the handle of the spoon is thick, at least 1/4 inch in diameter. I’m not exactly sure what happened to my wooden spoon so I use a plastic one. It works fine too. Just make sure it’s a fat one!
- Poke holes in the cake while it’s still warm. Pour the sweetened condensed milk, Jello, or pudding over the cake while it’s still warm.
- For sweetened condensed milk poke cakes, let the cake sit at room temperature while it continues to cool. The runny mixture will set up as it cools and if you put the cake in the fridge it will cool too quickly before the runny mixture has a chance to settle in all the little nooks and crannies. Jell-O poke cakes need to be refrigerated to set up properly.
- Always use real whipped cream. That frozen stuff isn’t really cream! It’s worth the little extra effort in my opinion!
- Keep leftovers in the refrigerator.
- I’ve never tried freezing a poke cake. It’s so quick and easy to make I think it’s worth making fresh!
what can I use for toppings on poke cakes?
If you want to customize your own poke cake here are some fun suggestions!
Topping
- Whipped Cream – easy and delicious
- Pudding – mix prepared pudding with whipped cream
- Cream Cheese – for a cheesecake version mix 8 ounces softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 2 cups whipped cream together
Garnishes
- Chocolate curls – use a vegetable peeler to make curls
- Chocolate shavings – grate on the fine side of a cheese grater
- Sprinkles – red, white, and blue for the 4th of July, heart-shaped sprinkles for Valentines Day, or red ones for Christmas
- Fresh Fruit – fresh strawberries, raspberries, lemon slice, etc.
- Chopped Nuts – match them to the flavor of your cake (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts, pecans)
- Candy Pieces – toffee chips, mini candy-coated chocolate pieces, mini chocolate chips, chopped candy bars
- Chopped Cookies – chocolate sandwich cookies, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, etc.
- Dessert Sauce – drizzle chocolate hot fudge sauce, homemade raspberry sauce, or caramel sauce
printable recipe for strawberry poke cake
Like I said earlier, who cares what’s for dinner. The important thing to know is what is for dessert! This tasty cake is a crowd-pleaser, perfect for a weeknight, or pretty much any time of the day or night! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!
Other Cake Mix Recipes
- Peppermint Bark Poke Cake – A Christmas favorite
- Raspberry Filled Chocolate Cupcakes – easy and impressive
- Ganache Filled Chocolate Cupcakes – three kinds of chocolate
- Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes – a cupcake stuffed with cheesecake filling
- Red Velvet Bar Cookies – gooey and decadent
- Rhubarb Cobbler – the best of cake and cobbler
Easy Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Cookies – with cream cheese
- Cake Mix Strawberry Banana Bread – use it for strawberry shortcake
- Virgin Strawberry Sangria – it’s a mocktail
- Strawberry and Cream Bark – cute candy treat
Strawberry Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 15.25 ounce strawberry cake mix Made according to package directions
- 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
- 11.75 ounce strawberry topping (it’s by the ice cream toppings in the grocery store)
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp sugar
Garnish
- Sprinkles, chocolate curls, strawberries, etc.
Instructions
- Make and bake the cake in a 9 x 13 pan according to directions on the box.
- Mix sweetened condensed milk and strawberry topping together.
- While cake is still warm, poke holes in it every inch with the end of a wooden spoon.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk mixture over the cake making sure it fills the holes as much as possible.
- Let the cake cool.
- Whip cream with sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped topping over cake.
- Garnish as desired.
- Refrigerate for 2 or more hours. My family likes this cake best the next day.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
I wish someone would make me one of these for Valentine’s Day!
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone else did the cooking once in awhile?
What a perfect spring time treat!
Thank goodness it’s spring! Bring on the strawberries!
What a delicious looking treat! It’s time I try poke cake.
Erin if you haven’t tried a poke cakes yet you’ve got to! You won’t be disappointed!
What an incredible dessert for Valentine’s Day!
Thanks! It’s crazy a recipe that’s so easy could taste so yummy!
Strawberry is my favorite fruit to bake with! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Who could resist strawberries this time of the year? So yummy!
Wow! This cake looks and sounds amazing! 🙂 You just can never go wrong with a good old fashioned poke cake.
They are so easy, and so yummy! So much to love about them!
This looks really delicious! I can see why it’s a favorite!
It’s so easy and surprisingly just as yummy as chocolate versions! I never thought I would say that!
Could I use a white cake mix?
You could use a white cake mix but you won’t get that pretty pink color or quite as much of that scrumptious strawberry flavor! I think it would still taste fantastic though because there is quite a bit of strawberry flavor in that gooey sauce you pour over the top! Let me know how it goes!
Made this today for my sons 11th birthday (he asked for a strawberry cake). Only bad part of this particular recipe is, the prep time & cook time doesn’t state the 2-3 hour set time. So I seen that and thought we would be fine to start in a couple hours before the party. 🙁 I hope it still works out good. Followed recipe to a ‘T’ except the cool whip topping. I made a cool whip-cream cheese frosting instead. Thanks for the great recipe. Cant wait to taste it!
Cream cheese frosting sounds like a great choice. And yes, it should still taste good even if it doesn’t sit quiet as long as the recipe states! Happy Birthday to your son!
I can’t wait to try it! I made this tonight and used the correct size portions but had a lot of excess sweetened condensed milk/strawberry mixture. Is this normal? Not sure if i did something wrong, and debated whether to use it all, thinking it may soak in. I used it, so we shall see. I’m sure it will be delicious either way!
Hi Kimbererly! I did use the entire amount of sweetened condensed milk mixture! I does seem like overload but it makes the cake moist and so decadent! Hope you loved it!
I apsolutely love anything strawberry. And I love cooking. But my passion is baking. Do u have a reciepe using homemade Carmel sauce made from sweetened condensed milk??? Stuffed cupcakes/ or a filling in a poke cake or a layered cake? Thank you and GOD BLESS U ALL
Hi Melissa! I don’t have a homemade caramel sauce on my site but it would be delicious! I have a Red Velvet Cupcake that’s filled with cream cheese https://www.littledairyontheprairie.com/red-velvet-cupcakes-cream-cheese-surprise-inside/. I also have a Strawberry Cream Poke Cake that’s delicious! https://www.littledairyontheprairie.com/strawberry-poke-cake/ Happy Baking!
Remove the labels from the can .
Place them in water unopened boil for 3 hours. Remove let stand for 30 minutes before opening. Pour out your caramel. Enjoy!
I love making poke cakes I will be trying this one very soon it looks delicious
Poke cakes are fantasitcally easy and incredibly delicious! This one is so yummy, especially for spring and summer!
Much better the second day. Mine came out nothing like the picture – the sweetened condensed milk and strawberry topping mixture was extremely thick and I actually had to push it into the holes. It just sat there. It sort of soaked in overnight but not as much as I thought it would. Still tasted good. Made me think of strawberry shortcake. I would be tempted to try either jam or preserves next time. One, I would like flavor better than the ice cream topping (might just be the brand used) and two, would like the chunks of fruit. Overall it was quite good and will attempt again.
I’m glad it tasted yummy! I’m wondering if the brand of topping is making the difference. My sweetened condensed milk and strawberry ice cream topping was pretty thin and did have small chunks of fruit in it. I used Smuckers. Jam might be really sweet, but then again that’s not always a bad thing! 😉
I used Coldstone. Didn’t even taste like strawberry. Will not buy again. The store was out of Smuckers but will try to find. Cake was still good despite the issue. Will make again.
I just bought a jar of Smuckers the other day and I’m planning on making this cake again and creating a vidoe of it so everyone can see exactly what it looks like!
This looks so tasty, my kids will love this!
My kids and their friends gobbled it up! I bet your kids will love it too!
Look how moist that cake is!! It is also a gorgeous cake!
That sweet strawberry sauce is so yummy I could eat it with a spoon! It’s pretty good drizzled over the cake too!
This looks yummy AND gorgeous! I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks! Like I said, I’m usaually a chocolate girl all the way and I’m totally in love with this cake! It’s that good!
This looks SO good! My kids love strawberry! They’ll surely enjoy this!
Stawberries are begging to be enjoyed all spring and summer long! This cake is such a crowd pleaser!
OMG! Gorgeous! This cake looks so moist!
All that sweetened condensed milk and strawberry sauce make every bit decadent and moist! It’s almost makes me feel guilty!
Looks like the perfect dessert this Summer!
It’s such an easy, yet decadent dessert!
That looks so yummy, I’d love a big slice of it now!
Oh my goodness! It’s just right for summer!
This cake is amazing! Very easy to make too! It’s going to be a go to recipe!
Yay! I’m so glad you love this recipe! It’s so easy, yet so yummy!
Hello Amy, Everyone really enjoyed this cake. People kept requesting this cake and it was my first time. Very easy to make and delicious yum !
Yay! It sounds like the cake was a hit! So happy you enjoyed it!
This was a HUGE hit! My family loved it! My daughter asked me to make this again for her cheer Christmas party. It was super simple to make!
Yay! I’m so happy you loved it! You must be a super fun mom to host a cheer Christmas party! Good luck!