A zesty purple Jell-O poke cake recipe (1978) - Click Americana (2024)

FAQs

Where did the Jell-O poke cake come from? ›

According to Lynne Galia of the Kraft Heinz Company, the Jell-O gelatin poke cake, developed by General Foods Kitchens, first appeared in print advertising and in Jell-O recipe booklets in 1976. The subsequent Jell-O pudding poke cake recipe was introduced in 1981.

This can happen when you pour too much liquid into the holes of your cake. This can occur when the holes are less than an inch apart from each other and this is why instant pudding is such a game-changer — its thick consistency won't drench the cake sponge too quickly, resulting in a soggy mess.

Although the exact history of how Peter Cooper created the product is unknown to us today, we do know that in 1845 he secured a patent (US Patent 4084) for a gelatin dessert powder called “portable gelatin.” His invention was a basic edible gelatin that had no flavoring to it.

The original gelatin dessert began in Le Roy, New York, in 1897, when Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked the name Jell-O. He and his wife May had made the product by adding strawberry, raspberry, orange, and lemon flavoring to sugar and granulated gelatin (which had been patented in 1845).

To keep jello poke cake on hand for up to a week, store it in an airtight container in the fridge.

So, what's a poke cake? True to its name, it's a cake that you poke holes in after baking. The holes are then filled with a liquid or filling — like condensed milk, pureed fruit, chocolate cream, or pudding — to infuse extra flavor into every bite. Here are our favorite ways to make one.

The Evolution of Jamaican Black Cake

Having experienced the holiday tradition of fruitcakes at the hands of their captors, enslaved Africans took the concept of fruitcake and began adapting the recipe.

The earliest published reference for a rolled cake spread with jelly was in the Northern Farmer, a journal published in Utica, New York, in December 1852. Called "To Make Jelly Cake", the recipe describes a modern "jelly roll" and reads: "Bake quick and while hot spread with jelly.

But when they first gained popularity, there were in fact a few reasons why a home cook might have wanted to serve them. One, in the early 1950s refrigerators were still quite expensive, and gelatin needs refrigeration in order to set. So in a way, preparing a Jell-O mold was something of a status symbol.

When were poke cakes popular? ›

Poke cakes go back to the ancient days of the 1970s, the heyday of boxed cake mixes, Jell-O, and Cool Whip.