Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake

This Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake is a pretty cake filled with a sweet strawberry milk and gelatin mixture, then topped with crushed Oreos and fresh strawberries!

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If you need to make an easy but appealing and attractive cake for birthdays, office gatherings, or school functions, this Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake is exactly what you’ve been looking for! This delicious dessert starts with a white sheet cake that is infused with sweet creamy strawberry flavor – it’s like a tres leches cake, but with a strawberry twist!

Don’t know what a poke cake is? Then you’re in for a real treat. By poking holes in your base cake layer (referred to as a sheet cake), and filling it with strawberry gelatin milk, you instantly transform an ordinary sheet cake into a colorful patterned cake base that’s loaded with delicious flavor. 

You’d be correct in thinking that the 3-milk mixture poured over the cake is very similar to the method used when making a tres leches cake. This mixture of strawberry jello, evaporated milk, whole milk, and condensed milk gives this cake an amazing flavor. It’s just like strawberry milk!

Once topped off with soft Cool Whip frosting, crunchy crumbled golden Oreos, and dollops of whipped cream with whole fresh strawberries, you’ll have a masterpiece on your hands that’ll likely be devoured in minutes!

I love how easy it is to adapt poke cakes, just like this 4th of July Poke Cake or our Better than Sex Cake!

What is Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake?

Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake is made with a classic white cake base that’s poked with bamboo skewers. A milk and strawberry gelatin mixture is poured over the cake so that all that delicious flavor and pink color seeps throughout the cake. The poke cake is then topped with Cool Whip, crushed Golden Oreo cookies, and garnished with halved fresh strawberries!

🍓 Ingredients:

• baked white cake – I find it really quick and easy to use a boxed cake mix and whip up a white cake. You can use your favorite white cake or white cupcake recipe if you prefer. A white cake makes the prettiest contrast for this poke cake, but you can use a yellow cake mix if you must.
• evaporated milk, heavy cream, and sweetened condensed milk – these three milks are combined with strawberry gelatin to make an ultra smooth, sweet strawberry cream that is drizzled over the holes to seep into the sponge of the cake
• strawberry gelatin – this flavors the “tres leches” milk mixture and is also used to make the infamous “strawberry crunch” topping.
• Golden Oreos – any type of vanilla sandwich cookie will work. These are broken into crumbs and mixed with butter and strawberry gelatin to make the strawberry crunch topping.
• Cool Whip – you can also whip up heavy cream for the topping – both will work, though I find that Cool Whip freezes well if you will be storing your leftover cake.
• butter – use salted or unsalted – the melted butter is drizzled into the cookie crumble, along with the strawberry Jello to make the crunch topping.

For a complete list of ingredients and their measurements, please refer to the printable recipe card 📋 at the bottom of the post.

Optional Garnish:

strawberries – fresh whole, halved, or sliced strawberries make a gorgeous garnish on this strawberry poke cake. I used six large strawberries and sliced each in half.

whipped cream – If you’d like to make little swirls of whipped cream and then top with a strawberry like I did, you’ll want some extra Cool Whip or whipped cream. You can add this as part of the presentation of the whole cake or slice the cake and then used squirty whipped cream as you’re serving.

🔪 Instructions:

Step 1: Begin by baking a white cake in a 9×13 baking dish. You can use any white cake mix or recipe you prefer. Standard boxed cake mixes make a 9×13 sheet cake. Cool the cake completely.

Step 2: Use a bamboo skewer or a chopstick to poke holes all over the cake. Space them ½″ up to 1″ apart.

Step 3: Heat the evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Sprinkle half (1.5 oz.) of the package of jello into the warm milk and whisk until the gelatin has dissolved completely. Set aside to cool. (Use the remaining jello powder for the topping, as indicated below).

Step 4: Whisk the sweetened condensed milk and the whole milk into the strawberry evaporated milk mixture. Stir until they are fully blended.

Step 5: Ladle the cooled jello mixture over the top of the cake. Continue adding all of the milk, allowing it to soak into the holes in the cake.

Step 6: Cover the cake with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator, allowing it to soak up all of the gelatin for at least 1 hour.

Step 7: Top the poke cake with a thick layer of fluffy Cool Whip (or whipped cream.)

Step 8: Place the Oreos into a food processor or in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Use a rolling pin to crush the Oreos into fairly small crumbles.

Step 9: Sprinkle the remaining ½ package of strawberry gelatin and the melted butter over the cookie crumbs in a large bowl.

Step 10: Stir the cookie mixture to make a lovely pink crunchy topping.

Step 11: Spread the strawberry cookie topping over the whipped cream layer of the poke cake.

Step 8: For a beautiful presentation, slice the cake into 12 even sections. Pipe or squirt a swirl of whipped cream on top of each piece and then top with a strawberry half.

Recipe FAQs

Tips For Making Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake

• The holes in the cake should be sufficiently large enough to allow the strawberry milk liquid to trickle through them down into the entire cake. Using something like a wooden skewer will work well. 
• Make sure that the strawberry milk mixture in the cake has set sufficiently well in the refrigerator before you move on to layering the cake with cream, cookies, and strawberries.
• You can speed up the setting of the gelatin by placing the cake in the freezer but don’t forget to remove it before the cake freezes!
• If you opt to use a food processor instead of a rolling pin to crush the Oreos, be mindful of not creating a paste. You do want some pieces of cookie to remain – a pulverized crumb is not what we’re going for here. HOWEVER, that would taste ok, too.
• To pipe Cool Whip on the cake for added decoration, add an additional 8oz tub of Cool Whip to the ingredients. One tub will only cover the top of the cake. It looks finished when each piece is decorated with a dollop of whipped cream and a fresh strawberry.
• If you plan to freeze your cake (either whole or as individual pieces) with the Cool Whip topping, flash freeze it first for 2-3 hours before wrapping tightly with plastic wrap and then foil. Once defrosted in the fridge, go on to add the Golden Oreos and fresh strawberries.

If you try this Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.

5 from 106 votes

Created by: Stefanie

Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

12

This Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake is a pretty cake filled with a sweet strawberry milk and gelatin mixture, then topped with crushed Oreos and fresh strawberries!

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Ingredients

• ▢ White sheet cake baked in 9×13 dish
• ▢ 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• ▢ 12 oz. can evaporated milk
• ▢ ½ cup whole milk
• ▢ 3 oz. package strawberry jello, divided
• ▢ 8 oz. container of Cool Whip or frozen whipped topping thawed (plus more for garnish, see notes)
• ▢ 25 Golden Oreos about 1 package
• ▢ ¼ cup salted butter melted
• ▢ Fresh strawberries for garnish optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F or as directed on cake mix package instructions. Mix and bake cake in a 9×13 glass baking dish according to the instructions. Cool cake completely.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat evaporated milk over medium. Whisk in ½ package of strawberry gelatin powder, stirring and heating until the gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  
• To the cooled evaporated milk mixture, add sweetened condensed milk and whole milk. Whisk until fully combined.
• Use a bamboo skewer to poke small, evenly spaced holes all over the cooled cake.
• Spoon the strawberry milk mixture over the cake, being sure to evenly coat the cake. Cover with plastic wrap and place the cake in the refrigerator to soak up the milk mixture for at least 1 hour.
  
• Gently spread Cool Whip over the top of the cake.
• Place golden Oreos in a plastic bag and crush into crumbs using a rolling pin.
• Transfer crushed cookies to a medium bowl. Pour melted butter over the cookie crumbs and sprinkle with the remaining ½ package of strawberry gelatin powder. Stir to combine.
  
• Sprinkle the cookie mixture over the Cool Whip on the cake. Press down as needed to make a smooth, flat top.
• Slice the cake into individual servings. Serve with a dollop of Cool Whip (or whipped cream) and a fresh strawberry half.

Notes

• Poke sufficiently large holes in the cake to allow the strawberry milk liquid to trickle through them down into the entire cake. Using something like a wooden skewer or handle of a spoon will work well. 
• Make sure that the strawberry milk mixture in the cake has set sufficiently well in the refrigerator before you move on to layering the cake with cream, cookies, and strawberries.
• The cookies will soften over time in the refrigerator so it is best to add the “crunch” topping just before serving.
• If you opt to use a food processor instead of a rolling pin to crush the Oreos, be mindful of not creating a paste. You do want some pieces of cookie to remain – a pulverized crumb is not what we’re going for here. 
• To pipe Cool Whip on the cake for added decoration, add an additional 8oz tub of Cool Whip to the ingredients. One tub will only cover the top of the cake. It looks finished when each piece is decorated with a dollop of whipped cream and a fresh strawberry.
• If you plan to freeze your cake (either whole or as individual pieces) with the Cool Whip topping, flash freeze it first for 2-3 hours before wrapping tightly with plastic wrap and then foil. Once defrosted in the fridge, go on to add the Golden Oreos and fresh strawberries. If you freeze leftovers, remove the fresh strawberry from the top before freezing.

Nutrition

Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 250mg | Potassium: 269mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 324IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 209mg | Iron: 1mg

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