How to make a jazzier cake? Poke some holes in it.

Here’s a jazzy cake that could not be easier: Bake a white cake. Poke holes in it. Pour warm gelatin mix over it. Chill, unmold and frost.

The great American poke cake may have been born as a gimmick a few decades ago, but it might be the “wow” factor we need this spring.

Not unlike the Funfetti fad, kicked off in 1989, the poke cake rose with the help of a food giant in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was part of a Jell-O campaign to breathe sweet, new life into the dessert brand, as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution detailed in a story earlier this month.

To which we say: Welcome (back) to our spring brunches, family meals and holiday potluck feasts, poke cake. We dig your retro style.

Here’s the original recipe for Strawberry Jell-O poke cake.

No fancy gadgets needed: Use the end of a wooden spoon, a fork or a chopstick to poke holes in the cake. Henri Hollis/ Cox Newspapers

“This recipe comes from the Kraft Heinz Website. According to Lynne Galia, the company spokesperson for corporate affairs, the recipe first appeared in print advertising in 1976. Raspberry was the original flavor, but use whatever Jell-O flavor suits. In our photos, we’ve substituted Chantilly Cream for Cool Whip (see recipe, below).” – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Original Strawberry Jell-O Poke Cake

Ingredients:

1 white cake mix
2 cups boiling water
2 packages (3 ounces each) Jell-O strawberry gelatin
1 tub (8 ounces) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed

Pierce the cake to allow it to soak up the Jell-O filling. Henri Hollis/ Cox Newspapers

Make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch cake pan.
Mix and bake the cake according to package directions. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
Pierce the cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

Once you’ve poked holes in the cake, pour Jell-O into the crannies. Henri Hollis/ Cox Newspapers

Add boiling water to gelatin mix; stir 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Carefully pour over cake layers. Refrigerate 3 hours.
Dip bottoms of cake pans in warm water 10 seconds; unmold cakes.