Lime Poke Cake Recipe
Lime Jello Poke isn’t just fun, it’s delicious too with sweet and tangy lime flavor infused into the cake.

Lime Jello Poke cake is a versatile dessert. You can decorate this cake for St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, and even for a Christmas dessert.
I still remember the first time I ever made a Poke cake, back in the late 70s. It was for a church social function. Some brilliant person thought that all the ladies should make a poke cake. Poke cakes were a new idea at that time. I was a young newlywed just learning to cook, still burning rice. Needless to say, my cake was a mess but I took it to church anyway. I didn’t dare show up without a cake.
So I was standing next to the dessert table with a group of ladies when one of them begin to talk about just how bad my cake really looked. I let her talk and when she finished I simply said “I did the best I could”. She was dumbfounded. Be nice folks.
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How do you poke a hole in a poke cake?
There are multiple ways to poke the hole in the cake. It depends on how big you want your holes. The handle of a wooden spoon makes a little bit bigger hole. The tines of a meat fork, a straw, or a wooden skewer will work.
Ingredients
- 1 box of white cake mix, baked and cooled
- 1 (3.4 oz.) box lime gelatin
- 1 cup boiling water
- Candy sprinkles to decorate the cake
Frosting Ingredients
- 1 can of vanilla frosting
- a few drops of lime juice
Directions
Poke cakes are typically a sheet cake but they can be made into layer cakes as well. This one is a sheet cake baked in a 13 x 9 baking dish.
Step 1
Bake the cake according to package directions with water, eggs, and oil in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Allow the cake to completely cool on a cooling rack.

Step 2
Using a wooden spoon handle, poke holes over the entire surface of the cake, fairly close together. You don’t want any slices of cake without that sweet and tangy lime flavor.
Poke the holes almost completely through to the bottom but not quite.

Step 3
Now whisk the Lime jello with the boiling water in a measuring cup with a pouring spout. Pour the jello over the entire surface of the cake being sure to get it into every hole.
Refrigerate the cake for at least one hour before frosting.

It looks a bit like a mess but don’t worry, the frosting will seep down into those holes too and make your homemade jello poke cake delicious.
Make the frosting
Scoop the canned vanilla frosting into a large bowl. Squeeze one or two drops of lime juice into the frosting and stir with a spatula until well blended.
Frost and decorate your cake. Your delicious cake just got even better with lime frosting.

Frost and Decorate
Slather your delicious lime frosting over the top of the cake and decorate using candy sprinkles to match your occasion.

Halloween Poke Cake
Buy some Halloween candy sprinkles like these I found on Amazon. A classic jello poke cake instantly becomes a fun Halloween party dessert.

Halloween candy sprinkles make the lime jello poke cake even more fun for a Halloween. There is nothing scary about this Halloween dessert, just delicious.
Christmas Jello Poke Cake

A green jello poke cake is perfect for a Christmas dessert. If you are hosting an elegant dinner, serve your cake with lime slices on top.
Want to make it fun? Add Christmas candy sprinkles like these to the top of your easy jello poke cake. It really doesn’t get much easier.

Poke cakes are the perfect dessert for special occasions. You can decorate the frosting to match your occasion.
Just add Easter cand sprinkles for Easter. Halloween candy sprinkles for Halloween. Christmas candy sprinkles for Christmas.

Optional Poke cake flavors
You can make poke cakes in different flavors. Trade the lime jello for orange jello or strawberry jello. You get the idea. Use the same jello poke cake recipe but a different flavor of jello.
It is also perfectly fine to trade the white cake mix for a yellow cake mix or lemon cake mix if you like. A lemon-lime poke cake is very delicious. If using a yellow cake mix, you would want to use a strong color of jello such as orange or red.
Lime Poke Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box of white cake mix, baked and cooled
- 1 3.4 oz. box of lime gelatin
- 1 cup of boiling water
- Candy sprinkles to decorate the cake
Lime Frosting
- 1 container of Vanilla frosting
- 1 or 2 drops of fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Bake the cake according to package directions with water, eggs, and oil in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Allow the cake to completely cool on a cooling rack.
- Using a wooden spoon handle, poke holes over the entire surface of the cake, fairly close together. You don’t want any slices of cake without that sweet and tangy lime flavor. Poke the holes almost completely through to the bottom but not quite.
- Now whisk the Lime jello with the boiling water in a measuring cup with a pouring spout. Pour the jello over the entire surface of the cake being sure to get it into every hole.
- Refrigerate the cake for at least one hour before frosting.
Frosting Directions
- Scoop the canned vanilla frosting into a large bowl. Squeeze one or two drops of lime juice into the frosting and stir with a spatula until well blended.
- Frost and decorate your cake. Your delicious cake just got even better with lime frosting.
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