This Big Red Poke Cake Recipe Is What Dreams Are Made Of

I just discovered this cake mix recipe made with Big Red soda, one that should pretty much be on the label of every can. Big Red is, in my opinion, the only red cream soda you should ever drink. Beloved by Texans, but with fans worldwide for a very good reason, Big Red has a unique flavor that you just can’t replicate in any other soda, one I have to keep stocked in my fridge at all times.

Add Big Red’s unique flavor and taste to cake and you get a dessert that is picnic barbecue and potluck ready, one that is sure to impress and leave you with a very clean pan that requires little washing. All you need to make this cake is a can or two of Big Red, then some staple items I also love, strawberry jello, cake mix and Cool Whip. If you’ve never made a poke cake, you are in for an extra big treat, but having made quite a few Southern style poke cakes in all my years, I still never dreamed of adding Big Red soda to the top of the cake. Oh my, you are just going to have to try this one for yourself.

Big Red Poke Cake Recipe

Ingredients for the Cake

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup Vegetable  or canola oil

Poke Filling

• 1 large Strawberry JELL-O 6oz
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 cans Big Red soda

Frosting

• one 8 oz container Cool Whip
• 1 small box of instant vanilla pudding 3.4oz
• 2 cups milk

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a large rectangular cake pan by spraying it with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2

Add cake mix, water, oil and eggs to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed for two minutes.

Step 3

Pour cake batter into pan and bake according to instructions on the cake mix box. If you are using a 13×9 pan, this should be about 24 minutes.

Step 4

Allow cake to cool before proceeding.

Step 5

Poke holes in cake with a toothpick, spacing them about  1/2 inch apart. In my opinion, you can’t poke too many holes here. Every hole is about to get filled with the unbeatable taste of Big Red.

Step 6

Boil 1 cup of water in a pan, then add the box of strawberry Jello until dissolved, then add a can of Big Red soda to the mixture.

Step 7

Pour the red filling mixture over the cake. Pour from the middle and it will soak into the cake, pooling at the edges, which is exactly what it is supposed to do. I highly recommend getting one of the edge pieces when you serve it if you love Big Red soda! True Big Red lovers will want to add an extra can of soda here during this step, pouring another whole can of soda directly onto the cake after the first filling mixture has been poured. Wow!

Step 8

Mix the instant vanilla pudding with the milk. Whisk for 2 minutes, then let sit for 5 minutes until it thickens and is firm.

Step 9

Mix pudding and Cool Whip until one texture and consistency. Add this to the top of your cooled cake, then cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours. You can leave it overnight for even better results.

So I found a cool tutorial video that shows you how easy it is to make this cake, but they use Sprite instead of Big Red soda. Simply substitute the sprite for Big Red, following the recipe above to get this poke cake recipe with Big Red. I found another great variation on this recipe, too, one that uses cherry gelatin instead of strawberry. Check out this recipe as well, compliments of Sweet Life Bake here:  Big Red Poke Cake