The Throwback Strawberry Cake That's Stealing the Show at My Cookouts

Name: The Throwback Strawberry Cake That's Stealing the Show at My Cookouts
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 205 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: Baking spray with flour; 150 g (10 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened; 400 g (14 ounces; 2 cups), plus 36 g (1 1/4 ounces; 3 tablespoons) granulated sugar, divided; 1 teaspoon packed lemon zest, plus 2 teaspoons (10 ml) fresh juice, divided (from 1 medium lemon); 1/4 cup (60 ml) neutral oil such as canola or vegetable oil; 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional; 3 large eggs, at room temperature; 300 g all-purpose flour (10 1/2 ounces; 2 1/3 cups); 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 cup (240 ml) sour cream, at room temperature; 1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk, at room temperature; 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) jarred strawberry preserves; 60 g (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened; 2 cups (475 ml) heavy whipping cream; 85 g (3 ounces)fresh strawberries, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup sliced)

A piece of strawberry poke cake on a plate tray with more in the background — Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

Why It Works

Using jarred strawberry preserves for the syrup that soaks the cake delivers concentrated berry flavor and the perfect consistency without the need to cook down fresh fruit.
A small amount of cream cheese stabilizes the whipped cream topping, helping it hold its shape for days.

Few desserts are as cheerfully nostalgic—or as satisfying—as poke cake. Born from the heyday of boxed cake mixes and Jell-O in mid-20th-century America, poke cakes surged in popularity throughout the 1970s thanks to their ease, versatility, and almost guaranteed crowd-pleasing appeal.

The concept is simple: Bake a sheet cake, poke holes all over it, and pour a flavorful liquid or syrup into those channels so every bite is extra moist and flavorful. From potlucks and picnics to birthday parties and after-school treats, poke cakes became a mainstay of American home baking—they're fun to make, endlessly adaptable, travel well for dinner parties and cookouts, and deliver maximum flavor with minimal fuss.

A dessert topped with strawberries on a wooden table accompanied by drinks and a serving spatula — Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

My colleague Tricia Manzanero Stuedeman from our Birmingham, Alabama test kitchen, developed the strawberry poke cake recipe below—her cake nods to that retro charm but takes a few modern turns to refine the texture, deepen the flavor, and ensure the result is as beautiful as it is delicious. It starts with a plush, lemon-scented butter cake, enriched with sour cream for moisture and body. The lemon in the batter and soak enhances the strawberries' natural brightness and keeps the overall effect fresh and vibrant. Once the cake is baked and while it's still warm, it's poked all over with the handle of a wooden spoon to create deep channels—just the right size to catch every drop of the strawberry soak.

Rather than relying on a box of Jell-O to make the syrup or—at the other end of the effort spectrum—requiring cooking down fruit for a homemade fruit syrup, this recipe leans on jarred strawberry preserves for a syrup that's quick, convenient, delicious, and has the ideal consistency. The preserves are naturally concentrated in flavor and sweetened to the right degree, so all they need is a splash of lemon juice to brighten them up. The mixture of preserves and lemon juice is microwaved in short bursts to loosen the mixture, stirring between each round. Stirring as you go is key: It helps the preserves heat evenly and prevents any hot spots from bubbling or scorching, ensuring a smooth, pourable syrup without breaking down the fruit. Once warm and fluid, the mixture spoons easily into the still-warm cake, soaking deep into every pocket for vibrant flavor in every bite.

A baking pan containing a strawberry poke cake with a spoon spreading strawberry topping — Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

A generous topping of whipped cream keeps things light and classic, but here it's reinforced with a small amount of softened cream cheese. This clever trick adds a hint of tang while helping stabilize the whipped cream so it can hold up for days in the fridge without weeping or collapsing. It's soft and billowy, but sturdy enough to spread and slice cleanly. Sliced fresh strawberries layered over the top finish the cake with a burst of color and juicy contrast.

Hand placing strawberry slices on a dessert with a whipped topping layer in a baking dish — Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

The result is an intensely strawberry-forward cake that is pleasantly sweet and balanced. It's sturdy enough to travel, easy to make ahead, and ideal for serving a crowd, whether you're revisiting a classic or discovering poke cake for the first time.

The recipe was developed by Tricia Manzanero Stuedeman; the headnote was written by Leah Colins.