This week is Valentine’s week and I am looking forward to a sappy, mushy week of love! 🙂 I love my family just the same every day of the year, but I like to do a few special things for Valentine’s Day. We don’t go overboard and we don’t usually go out, so all of our Valentine’s Day Fun happens right here at home. We will be making homemade Valentine’s for my children’s classmates this week along with writing some nice things about each other to add to our I Love You Because…Jar! Of course Valentine’s Day has to include some yummy sweet treats, so today I am sharing this moist & delicious Chocolate & Cherry Poke Cake with you all! We made it this weekend after an afternoon of sledding and fun in the snow!
My family has been making this cake for as long as I can remember and chocolate with cherries are one of my favorite combinations! This chilled cake is always a hit at our house for birthdays, get togethers and for those weekends when we just want a simple but tasty dessert. I don’t usually use any box mixes to make my desserts, but this cake is the exception and I always make this cake for Valentine’s Day.
Start out by baking your favorite boxed chocolate cake ( I like Devil’s Food Cake) as directed. While that’s baking in the oven, you get your cherry JELLO mixture prepared and then set it aside.
After the cake has been taken out of the oven and cooled for about 25 minutes, you get out a fork and start poking holes in the cake. This is a lot of fun for your little ones if they like to help in the kitchen too!
Then you take that cherry Jello mixture and evenly pour it across your freshly baked chocolate cake. The cake then goes right into the refrigerator to chill.
After an hour or so, you make the fluffy, creamy chocolate pudding frosting and simply spread it on top of the cake with a spatula, cover the cake and return it to the refrigerator to keep chilled until you are ready to serve it. It’s also really convenient that this cake can be made ahead of time.
Sometimes Valentine’s Day can be busy and you may think you don’t have the time to make our own dessert, but I’m telling you…give this recipe a try! It just might become one of your family’s favorites too!
What do you have planned for Valentine’s Day this year?
Ingredients
- For The Cake:
- 1 box of your favorite Chocolate Cake mix, prepared
- 1 (4 oz.) box of Cherry JELLO
- 1 1/4 cups water
- For The Frosting:
- 1 envelope Dream Whip
- 1 package Instant JELLO Chocolate Pudding Mix
- 1 1/2 cups Cold Milk
- Maraschino Cherries with stems for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven, Then mix and bake your chocolate cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan according to cake instructions..
- Remove from the oven and cool for 20- 25 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, dissolve the cherry JELLO in 3/4 cups boiling water.
- Add 1/2 cup of cold water, stir and set aside at room temperature.
- Poke holes with a toothpick or a fork all over the cake, and pour the cherry JELLO mixture evenly across the cake.
- Refrigerate the cake for a few hours and chill the bowl in the refrigerator that you will be using to make the frosting.
- When the cake is completely cooled, In the chilled mixing bowl, blend & whip the pudding mix, dream whip and milk until stiff about 5-8 minutes in your Kitchen Aid Mixer with the whisk attachment.
- Immediately frost the cake, cover it and put it back into the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- * I like to use my glass cake pan that has a lid, then the frosting never sticks to any plastic wrap:).
- Serves 12.
- Enjoy!
*Linking up at Skip To My Lou, Home Stories A to Z, Place of My Taste, Living Well Spending Less, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, White Lights On Wednesday
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great week and enjoy your new Red Plate!
Miz Helen
Miz Helen recently posted…Full Plate Thursday 2-19-15
What a delicious cake, I will have to try this one. Hope you had a great Valentine weekend and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Miz Helen recently posted…Cherry Cake with Cherry Frosting
Thanks so much! It’s definitely one of our favorites Miz Helen! I hope you try it!
This sounds SO good!
Thanks for sharing!
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup recently posted…One-Bowl {Healthier} Chocolate Cupcakes
Thanks so much Heather! 🙂
I love chocolate and cherries too! I think this will make a surprise appearance tonight at dinner since I don’t think I can wait until Valentine’s Day to make it. 🙂 Visiting from Full Plate Thursday.
Pary Moppins recently posted…Madly in Love
wow…this looks so good, think I could make this. Thanks! Happy Full Plate Thursday
karen recently posted…Mommy and Dino’s Real Food Meals
Thanks Karen! It’s so good, I hope you try it:)