Ready for a life changing guiltless dessert? This delicious Skinny Cherry Poke Cake recipe is made with a boxed cake mix, two egg whites and (surprise!) diet lemon-lime soda! Poke some holes in the top of the cooked cake and pour sugar-free cherry Jell-o mixture on top. Cool and then spread with a low-fat pudding & Cool Whip topping. It’s decadent, moist, flavorful & delicious but low fat too! Hands down, the best diet dessert ever!
I have been so lazy this week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a busy mom taking care of kids all day. But I’ve been totally slacking on my fitness progress. Sigh. I blame it on summer break.
While I love summer break, I always feel like I gain a couple pounds. Weird, right? Most people are kicking it into high gear to get in shape for bathing suit season and I’m over here eating carbs with my kids, ha!
Once school starts (less than 2 weeks!) and I get a schedule again then I usually force my booty back into the gym. Until then, I’m having lots of fun hanging out with my boys playing Plants vs. Zombies (OMG I’m addicted to that game! Have you played it??)
Okay, let me introduce you to your new favorite guiltless pleasure cake…
It’s skinny.
It’s cherry.
It’s amazing.
Oh and it has Jell-o. What’s up with me and Jell-o lately?! Did you see these Layered Jell-o Cups I made last week? (SO good by the way…)
Anyway, back to the cake. I shared this same cake recipe but in chocolate form a while ago, using Diet Coke. Using that same Low-Fat Diet Coke Cake recipe, I swapped out the chocolate cake mix for vanilla cake mix and the Diet Coke for Sprite Zero. Boom. 🙂
I poked big holes into my cake and then I made some cherry Jell-o and poured it over the top. After cooling it down in the refrigerator, I made a pudding and Cool Whip frosting and spread it all over.
Oh. My. Heck. It’s seriously so amazing. I can’t even get over how moist it is. It tastes like a restaurant dessert. If you made it for guests, they would NEVER in a million years guess that it’s low fat. Honest to goodness. Guys, please try this. It’s a winner!
Skinny {Low Fat} Cherry Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix
- 10 oz of a 12 oz can of diet lemon-lime soda - I used Sprite Zero
- 2 egg whites
- 1 .3-oz sugar-free cherry Jell-o
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 1-oz sugar-free instant vanilla pudding
- 1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk
- Lite Cool Whip to taste (I used about half a container)
Instructions
- Preheat oven according to box directions. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
- Beat cake mix, diet soda and egg whites in a large bowl for 2 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
- Decrease cooking time by 5 minutes from what the box says. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake will come out clean when it is finished.
- Pull cake out from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Using a large fork, ice pick or toothpick poke large holes into cake about every 1/2 inch of the cake. (Don't worry about how it looks , we'll be covering it up with frosting!)
- Mix together Jell-o and boiling water and stir for 2 minutes or until dissolved. Add in cold water. Pour over poked cake. Refrigerate until cooled completely.
- Combine pudding and 1-1/2 cups cold milk. Beat together until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Fold in desired amount of Cool Whip (I used about half a container). When it's the consistency and taste desired, spread over cooled cake. Slice up, serve and enjoy! Make sure to keep cake chilled in refrigerator!
I love poke cake and your skinny version is perfect!
LOVE Poke Cake and you can make it SKINNY! Say what? You rock girlfriend!
thanks -can’t wait to try this…
This Poke Coke looks delicious Jen, and I love that it is skinny. Definitely gonna try this the next time I’m looking for a guiltless dessert. 🙂 Thanks for sharing at Show Stopper Saturday Jen! 🙂
Pinning this NOW! This Cherry Poke Cake looks so good and so easy to make. Would love for you to share this recipe at the Blog Hop going on now…
http://www.thecasualcraftlete.com/2013/08/18/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-36/
Katie @ http://www.thecasualcraftlete.com/
Wow! This looks very satisfying for being skinny! Love it! Thanks for sharing at Sweet & Savory Saturdays #26.
~Amber @ Dessert Now, Dinner Later!
http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com
I LOVE Plants vs. Zombies! This cake looks super yummy! We’d love for you to come over to our newest link party over at The Inspiration Network: DELISH- a desserts only link party. Bring your desserts and let’s party!!
http://theinspiration-network.com/delish-dessert-link-party-no-1/
Smiles,
Melanie and Diana
The Inspiration Network
Super beautiful cake!
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to give it a try. Found you at the Pin Junkie Friday link party. Have a great weekend!
Amy
http://www.thestitchinmommy.com
Jen, your Poke Cake looks awesome, I like the cherry flavor. Hope you have a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Summer has not been kind to my body either….hoping the school year will change that 🙂 What a great idea for a poke cake – looks and sounds delicious!
I just can’t stop smiling looking at your pretty cake! And I’m sure it’s delicious too. Thanks for sharing at Thursday’s Treasures, I’m featuring you on my Facebook page today!
Oh my goodness skinny poke cake… I think you just saved me 🙂
Made this for Valentine’s Day, substituting strawberry jello for cherry and topped with special sprinkles 🙂 My husband LOVED it so much, I made a second one and took it to his office. Thanks so much for the recipe! This will definitely be making it into my recipe “rotation!”
YAY Lindsey!! I’m SO happy you liked it!! And thanks for the comment! I hope you’re having a great week!
Nice recipe. Thanks Jen. Have a Fun Weekend!
I noticed in the recipe that it says – 1 (1oz) sugar free instant jello pudding—-is there a package that is only one ounce or do you only use part of the package?
Hi Patti! The sugar-free fat-free instant Jello packages are unbelievably only 1 oz! So just buy the sugar-free fat-free package and you’re set! I hope you love the cake and let me know if you have any more questions!
I plan on making this for the 4th with ff/sugar free cheesecake pudding and blueberries on top. I may get creative and add strawberries to make a flag cake.
This would be perfect for the 4th! A flag on top would be super cute. Thanks for your comment! Let me know how it turns out (put a picture on my facebook page!)
Will do! Question, though. I noticed that you call for the addition of cold water to the hot Jello mixture. All other poke cakes I’ve seen omit the cold water. Is this right, and does it really make a big difference either way?
Hi! I’ve made it a ton of times using the cold water. Not sure what the difference is with or without it! I don’t make poke cakes very often and made this recipe up, so I’m not sure what the norm is, but it’s worked well for me using the cold water! Let me know what you think!
Just made this poke cake. I used cheesecake flavored pudding! We’ll see how it turns out tonight.
Thanks for posting!
OMG. Cheesecake pudding would be awesome! How did it turn out?!
Made this cake today but didn’t have the sprite so i used a can of la croix lime flavored sparkling water. I also had to sub for the vanilla pudding so i used cheese cake. It turned out really good. e
I made this cake, but where the jello was poured, the cake has a wet consistency. It has chilled in the refrigerator for five hours. Is this how it’s suppose to be??? I just don’t care for a wet cake. Really disappointed.:-(
Gosh Heather, I’m sorry it didn’t turn out well! Did you poke the cake all over the entire cake? Lots of holes? I’ve made this many times and it has always turned out great, not wet. However, it IS a poke cake so there will be some wetness since you’re pouring liquid onto a cooked cake, but it shouldn’t be soggy. I poke holes all over the cake so it gets that flavor everywhere.
I made this but substituted the lemon-lime soda with Diet Cherry 7-Up! It was delicious!
YES!! I’m so happy you liked it! I couldn’t believe it was “skinny”! Thanks Nicole!
My 19yr old daughter made this tonight. Was super yummy. Thank you
I’m so glad you liked it, Tina!! Thanks for the nice comment!