This Firecracker Cake is super fun and easy and perfect for the 4th of July! This recipe uses red, white and blue Jello along with cake mix to make a fun and festive treat. It’s a unique dessert perfect for summer gatherings since it’s served chilled.
Firecracker cake is a poke cake that’s made with white cake mix and Jello for some fun, fruity colors and flavors! A great recipe for the fun summer festivities.
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What We Love About This Recipe
What makes this recipe great is that it’s easily adaptable and fun for everyone.
- Easy Ingredients: All found in pantry and only a few ingredients.
- Family Friendly: Kids will love the Jello surprise inside and might even want to help make it next time.
- Adaptable: Can make it low calorie and can adapt it to whatever holiday you’re celebrating.
- Holiday Themed: Perfect for 4th of July or Memorial Day celebrations!
Ingredient Notes
- Cream Cheese: Make sure your cream cheese is cold, it’ll help bring the frosting together.
- White Cake Mix: You could use whatever kind of cake mix you like, but this is where the white color comes in.
- Jello: A 3 ounce box of red Jello, and a 3 ounce box of blue Jello.
Variations and Substitutions
- Change the colors to fit whatever event you’re celebrating! Adding food coloring to the cake or swapping out for different types of Jello can make this perfect for just about anything.
- To make this a little healthier, use no sugar and low calorie ingredients as well as swapping out the sprinkles for some fresh fruit.
How to Make Firecracker Cake
These are the basic steps for making Firecracker Cake. Please refer to the recipe card below for more detailed instructions.
STEP 1: Bake
Bake the cake according to package directions and then let it cool.
STEP 2: Poke and Fill
Once the cake is cool, grab the end of a wooden spoon or drinking straw and poke even rows of holes across the cake. Then, dissolve the red Jello and fill in every other row of the poked holes. Repeat the process with the blue Jello. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours or overnight.
STEP 3: Frosting
In a chilled bowl, cream together cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar until it’s well mixed and light and fluffy. Then, with the mixer on low-med, slowly pour in the whipping cream and mix until smooth. Next, turn the mixer to high and whip until stiff peaks form. Spread evenly across the top of the cake or pipe it on with an icing bag. Lastly, sprinkle red, white and blue sprinkles on top of the cake.
Prep and Storage Tips
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE AHEAD OF TIME
Bake the cake ahead of time, the Jello needs to sit inside the cake at least overnight. Also make the frosting ahead of time and stick it in the fridge to until you’re ready to frost.
HOW TO STORE THIS RECIPE
The cake needs to be stored in the fridge. Since the frosting contains dairy, it shouldn’t be left out at room temperature for too long.
HOW TO FREEZE THIS RECIPE
This cake can be frozen for up to six months in an airtight container. For best results, make fresh icing to add on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use a gluten free cake mix and make sure the Jello that you’re using doesn’t contain any gluten too!
Maybe. If you’re going to use pudding instead of Jello, it might make your poke cake more moist than it normally would. Use food coloring to incorporate the color aspect.
Sure. If you’re feeding a lot of people and have a big enough cake pan to hold it all.
Expert Tips for Making This Recipe
- Add Decorations: To make it more festive, split your frosting into 3 and add red food coloring to one section and blue food coloring to another and keep the last section white.
- Short cut tip: Feel free to simply use whipped cream or your favorite store bought frosting instead of making your own.
- Edible Glitter: Adding edible glitter to the top of the cake instead of sprinkles can make the cake have more of a unique, eye-catching look.
What to Serve with Firecracker Cake
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Firecracker Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- White Cake Mix
- Oil,, Eggs & Water to bake cake according to directions
- 3 ounce Box Blue Jello
- 3 ounce Box Red Jello
- ¾ Cup Water for each color of Jello
- For the Frosting:
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese, cold
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream, cold
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- Red White & Blue Sprinkles
Instructions
- Bake cake according to package directions in a 13×9 inch pan. Allow to cool completely.
- With a drinking straw poke even rows of holes across the cake. I did 12 rows of 15.
- Dissolve the blue Jello in ¾ cup of boiling water. Fill the holes in every other row with the dissolved blue Jello. You can carefully pour or spoon it in, or use a dropper or syringe to be more precise.
- Repeat with the red Jello filling the empty rows of holes.
- Cover the cake and place it in the fridge overnight or for at least 8-10 hours.
- Once the cake has cooled it is time to make the frosting.
- This frosting is like a thick and sturdy whipped cream. It is light and creamy like whipped cream but will hold up on a frosted cake in the fridge for a few days.
- Like whipped cream it needs to be made with cold ingredients and works best if the bowl it is being made in is cold too. You can place the mixing bowl in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes before making the icing.
- In the chilled bowl cream together cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar until well mixed and light and fluffy. With the mixer on low/med slowly pour in the whipping cream and mix until well incorporated and smooth.
- Turn the mixer to high and whip until stiff peaks form.
- Spread evenly across the top of the cake or pipe it on with an icing bag. Sprinkle red white and blue sprinkles.
- Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.
Expert Tips
- Add Decorations: Truly, it is easy to make this cake even more decorative by adding festive 4th decorations.
- Short cut tip: Whipped Cream can be used in place of the frosting for the cake.
- Alternate ingredient: Bake the cake with applesauce instead of the oil.
- Candies: Red, white and blue M&M’s can be used for decorating the top of the cake.
Yum! This is so cute for summer get togethers, but I can also see changing up the flavors to match the season.
What a fun cake idea with the Starburst Jello! Festive and fun!
Such a fun cake! My son loved it!
I love that the ingredients are simple to find! Easy peasy and delicious. Making this one all year long!
This tasted so amazing! Thanks a lot for sharing this super easy to make recipe! Fam really loves it! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
The zingy zip of Starburst in the drizzle made this a hit with my grandkids! The cake is moist and tender. Great recipe!
This was so festive and fun. My kids loved making this poke cake recipe with me.
This was so easy and fun to make. Love it!