Strawberry Poke Cake

Name: Strawberry Poke Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4oz (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter, at room temp.; 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil; 132 Grams (2/3 Cups) Granulated Sugar; 2 Large Eggs, at room temp.; 141 Grams (1 1/4 Cup) Cake Flour; 1/4 Teaspoon Salt; 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder; 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda; 40z (1/2 Cup) Buttermilk; 2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract; 1/2lb (8oz) Fresh Strawberries, hulled and thickly sliced; 50 Grams (1/4 Cup) Granulated Sugar; 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract; Zest of 1 Medium Lemon; Juice of 1 Medium Lemon; 1/2 Teaspoon Cornstarch/ Cornflour; Whipped Cream; Fresh Strabwerries for decoration

By Elizabeth Waterson // Jul 29, 2019 (Updated May 22, 2023) // 1 Comment

Jump to Recipe·5 from 1 review

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Delicious vanilla cake is poked and filled with an easy homemade strawberry sauce then topped with a generous amount of fresh whipped cream. The perfect cake to make the night before serving, this strawberry poke cake is a favorite!!

strawberry topped strawberry poke cake on a white plate

First things first, can we talk about the amount of whipped cream on this cake. My kind of cake to whipped cream ratio. If it was a buttercream frosting, I wouldn't want that high of a ratio, but whipped cream, well I cannot stop myself.

While most strawberry poke cake recipes are made with a box cake mix and some strawberry jello, I felt like making a from-scratch version. Kind of like an elevated strawberry poke cake, no offense to jello but in my world it's more for the kiddies.

This recipe is a gorgeous vanilla cake that is poked and topped with an easy homemade strawberry sauce, then a generous layer of whipped cream. You don't have to use such a generous helping of whipped cream but why wouldn't you want to.

Next time, try making a Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie.

Let's get to the recipe.

Jump to:

🍰 Ingredients
📖How do you make a strawberry poke cake?
🍓Looking for more strawberry recipes?
Recipe Card
Recipe Ratings & Comments

strawberry poke cake cut open on a white plate

🍰 Ingredients

For the cake part of this recipe we'll just need a few staples:

Unsalted Butter and Vegetable Oil- I love a butter-based cake but adding just a little bit of oil helps aid in keeping the cake nice and moist.
Granulated Sugar
Large Eggs, at room temp.
Cake Flour
Salt
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Buttermilk
Pure Vanilla Extract

To top the cake we'll need an easy homemade strawberry sauce

Fresh Strawberries, hulled and thickly sliced
Granulated Sugar
Pure Vanilla Extract
Medium Lemon- we'll use both the zest and the juice
Cornstarch/ Cornflour
Fresh Whipped Cream
Fresh Strawberries for decoration

📖How do you make a strawberry poke cake?

First things first let's make the cake.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease an 8-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment or large bowl add the granulated sugar, softened butter, and vegetable oil mix for 3 to 4 minutes -- until very light and fluffy.

egg in butter sugar mixture for a cake recipe in a metal bowl

While that is mixing in a medium bowl whisk together the cake flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a small bowl combine the buttermilk and vanilla extract.

dry ingredients for cake in a glass bowl

vanilla extract and buttermilk in a measuring cup

When the butter mixture is ready add one egg at a time mixing well after each addition.

Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, using a spatula to gently combine. Add half of the milk mixture, gently stir until combined. Add another third of the dry ingredients Then the final milk, ending with the last third of dry ingredients. Pour into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 21 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet cake batter.

While the cake is baking make the strawberry sauce.

In a medium pot add the strawberries, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Cook over low to medium heat for 10 minutes, once the mixture starts to get hot and a slight boil use a potato masher to mash the strawberries down.

strawberries sugar and lemon zest in a small pot

In a small bowl mix together the corn starch and lemon juice to create a slurry with no lumps. Add the slurry to the strawberry sauce and cook over low to medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, the mixture should thicken up, keep in mind it will thicken more as it cools.

strawberry sauce in an glass liquid measuring cup

Set aside while the cake finishes baking/ cooling.

Once the cake is baked set aside to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke lots of holes throughout the cake.

Pour the strawberry sauce on top and use an offset spatula to help push it down into the holes.

This is a thicker sauce so there will be some strawberry chunks on top of the cake, that's what we want. Let the cake and strawberry sauce cool for 1 hour then transfer to the fridge to cool for another hour.

Top with whipped cream and fresh berries. This cake is best served within 24 hours of making, store leftovers in the fridge.