Strawberry Poke Cake

Alejandro's second death anniversary. February 10. Two years since the man who built a house with his hands died on the floor of the kitchen his wife had cooked in for forty years. I lit the candle. I said the prayer. I made caldo de res. The ritual. The constant. The thing that does not change because changing it would be forgetting, and I do not forget the people I have buried. I carry them. In the candles, in the caldo, in the flour, in the particular weight of a pot of beef broth that I lift onto the stove every Sunday, and the lifting is the memorial, and the memorial is the lifting, and the muscle memory is the memory.

Valentine's Day came and went. Forty-two cake orders — a record that Sofia predicted in November and that arrived in February like a train on Sofia's schedule. Heart conchas sold out three days in a row. The sweet tamales de dulce sold sixty at the farmers' market. Luis gave me roses — grocery store, plastic wrap, year thirty. The consistency. The unbroken chain of plastic-wrapped love. I will take this man's grocery store roses over any jeweler's diamond because the roses come every year and the coming is the constancy and constancy is the only luxury I need.

Luis Jr. called on Valentine's Day. He said: "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom. I gave Andrea's number to the military florist." The military florist. There is a florist who delivers flowers from soldiers to their families, and Luis Jr. used this service to send Andrea roses (not grocery store — the Army florist does real roses, because even the military understands that romance requires better than plastic wrap). Andrea called me that evening, crying: "He sent me flowers from the desert." The desert sent flowers. Love crosses deserts. I know this better than anyone.

I made churros for the bakery — Valentine's special, with strawberry dipping sauce and chocolate ganache, served as a duo. Sofia priced them at six dollars per plate (two churros, two sauces), and we sold fifty plates, and the margin was thirty-four percent, and Sofia told me the margin before I asked because Sofia always tells me the margin before I ask, and the telling is her love language, and margins are her valentines.

After fifty plates of churros and a Valentine's week that moved like one of Sofia’s trains, I wanted to give something strawberry to the people at home—something that didn’t require a deep fryer or a margin report, just a pan and a handful of sweet things and the same instinct that has guided every dessert I have ever made: that sweetness, offered freely, is a kind of remembering too. This strawberry poke cake is the home version of that Valentine’s energy—simple, bright, soaked through with something good the way February soaked through with everything at once.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min (plus 1 hour chilling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 box (15.25 oz) white cake mix, plus ingredients listed on box (eggs, oil, water)
1 package (3 oz) strawberry-flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 tablespoons powdered sugar (optional, for garnish)

Instructions

Bake the cake. Prepare the white cake mix according to package directions and bake in a greased 9×13-inch pan. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Poke the holes. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or a fork, poke holes all over the top of the warm cake, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
Make the gelatin soak. Dissolve the strawberry gelatin completely in 1 cup of boiling water, stirring for 2 minutes. Stir in the 1/2 cup cold water.
Soak the cake. Slowly pour the gelatin mixture evenly over the warm cake, letting it seep into all the holes. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 1 hour, or until the gelatin is fully set.
Top with whipped cream. Spread the thawed whipped topping evenly over the chilled cake in a smooth layer.
Garnish and serve. Arrange the sliced fresh strawberries over the whipped topping. Dust lightly with powdered sugar if desired. Slice into squares and serve cold.

Nutrition (per serving)

Strawberry Poke Cake — The Sweet Side of a February That Counted Everything