When the temperatures rise, no one wants to slave in the kitchen to bake a complicated dessert. Likewise the summer heat tends to diminish the appetite. But when that sweet tooth beckons to be satisfied, a quick and easy solution to this dilemma is to make a Jello cake. It's so easy children can learn to make it!
Basic Jello Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 package cake mix
- 1 large box (6 oz.) Jello or other gelatin
- 1 small box pudding mix
- 1 envelope Dream Whip
- 1 1/2 cups milk
Directions:
- Bake cake as directed in 13x9 pan.
- Dissolve gelatin in 2 cups boiling water and cool (don't let it gel).
- Once cake is cooled, gently poke holes in the cake using different size utensils such as a long fork, a shish-ke-bob skewer, straw, etc.
- Pour cooled gelatin into holes and top of cake until used up.
- Cover the cake and refrigerate.
- Once gelatin has partially set, frost with topping below.
Jello Cake Frosting
The best frosting for the Jello cake is a combination of Dream Whip and Instant Pudding mix, whipped to create a fluffy topping.
Beat:
- One envelope of Dream Whip
- 1 small box of instant pudding mix (1 oz.)
- 1 1/2 cups cold milk.
Spread on top of cake after gelatin has had a chance to partially gel in the cake holes.
Good Jello Cake Combinations
This basic recipe can be varied to create different flavor or color combinations:
- Yellow or white cake mix with strawberry gelatin, using vanilla pudding in frosting
- Lemon cake mix with lime gelatin , using lemon pudding in frosting
- Confetti cake mix with lime gelatin, using pistachio pudding in frosting
- Pineapple cake mix and pina colada gelatin, using coconut pudding in frosting.
- White cake mix and orange jello (Dreamsicle!) with vanilla pudding frosting.
Jello Cake Options
This recipe can be easily adapted for birthdays or holidays, just by using the right combination of cake and gelatin to match the season or party theme. The possibilities are only limited to the imagination of the cook!
- Use an 8 oz. tub of whipped topping in place of the pudding frosting. Add to cake right before serving.
- Use the cake as a shortcake dessert, Adding strawberries and Whipped topping.
- On patriotic holidays, frost cake with either the pudding or whipped topping and use blueberries and sliced strawberries to decorate the cake in red, white, and blue.
- Bake cake like a pineapple upside down cake with pineapples baked into cake, punch large holes inside the ring of the pineapple and pour cherry jello into the hole. Frost with pineapple pudding frosting.
- Top cooled cake with canned cherry pie filling
Any cook looking for a light summer dessert to whip up in a hurry should try this Jello Cake recipe. She'll be surprised by the raves she receives for making a cake this easy!
Jan Peterson - I'm a retired banker, published songwriter, cyber journalist, and member of the advisory board for the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall ...
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