A 4th of July Vanilla Poke Cake with Kool-Aid Fruit Juice

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Can you believe how close 4th of July is? It seems like only yesterday that 2014 started. I, for one, am excited for the holiday because I plan on bringing this Vanilla Poke Cake, made with Kool-Aid Fruit Juice, to a party and I know everyone will love it.

Anytime I plan on making something for a gathering, I test the recipe so I can make adjustments if necessary and in general, just to make sure everything tastes fantastic and something that I’m not at all concerned about sharing with my fellow party guests. Fortunately, this is a cake I’ve made a dozen times. My one dozen and one time had to be before 4th of July. I just couldn’t wait until the holiday to enjoy this dessert, so off to Walmart we went over the weekend.

I’m so happy to have a full-time job that allows us the federal holidays off so I can throughly enjoy my time outdoors with fun people and this cake! Everything will be red, white, and blue and I was more than happy to oblige with this themed cake. Too bad I can’t make a big enough cake to actually fit 50 “stars”, or blueberries. 🙂

The thing about outdoor parties is that you can pretty much eat all day long. (Please tell me it’s not just me who does this.) Seems like the combination of the heat and swimming, which is always inevitable with any party here in Florida, makes it so you end up with an appetite that never ceases.

At the parties I plan, we usually go for BBQ favorites and sides. As you can imagine, there is always some pork products, burgers, hot dogs, lots and lots of Doritos, macaroni salad, baked beans, and more. It’s an all out binge fest and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We are celebrating independence day, and the day I can independence myself from my semi diet to enjoy a vanilla poke cake, too!

With strawberry Kool-Aid drizzled on top (before the icing), it’s the perfect cake to #KoolOff with. Creamy and indulgent, it’s still not one to make you feel full, or like you did anything except enjoy a cake that also provided you with some delicious fruit!

While this cake is optimal for any 4th of July shenanigans, you can really make the base any time of the year and just have a blast changing out the toppings. It’s a dessert that you’ll want to make over and over again, with all different flavors and combinations.

Enjoy 4th of July, folks. I know I will!

Print Recipe ^[4]

A 4th of July Vanilla Poke Cake with Kool-Aid Fruit Juice

Ingredients:

• 1 box white cake mix
• Water, vegetable oil and egg whites called for on cake mix box
• 1 1/2 cups Kool-Aid Strawberry fruit juice
• 3 containers pre-made Jello vanilla pudding
• 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries, or enough to fill out the strips of the flag cake
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (or about 25)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool completely in pan, about 1 hour.
2. Pierce cooled cake with fork at 1/2-inch intervals. Pour Kool-Aid over entire surface of cake. Refrigerate at least 3 hours until serving time.
3. Spread vanilla pudding over cake. Arrange strawberries and blueberries on top of cake to look like flag. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.