Valentine Jell-O Cake

First off, I have to tell you a little secret. I cannot bake. I'm not that good at it. There are a couple of things I can do...I make an amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie which is a secret recipe of mine and you'll never ever ever EVER get it out of me. I can make a pretty mean cheese cake. And I make these little things I like to call Drunken Zebra Cakes....I'll have to make them one day and share that one with you.

But other than that, I really don't do dessert well. It's too constricting. You have to have exact ingredients and exact measurements. No room to play with it or leave an ingredient out because baking is more like a science. Cooking is more of an art. I think. But baking becomes an art too. I have this friend who is always posting pictures of cakes and cupcakes that she has made and they are so beautiful!! I'm green with envy because I do not have the patience or the steady hand to craft the awesome cakes she does. I wouldn't be surprised to see her on one of the Cake Design Competition Shows one day.

Anyway...here is a cake that the Movie Junkie did for Valentine's Day. Let me tell you a bit about it. It was Valentine's Day and since I'm trying to watch what I eat and lose weight, I decided to dig into my recipe draw for an old recipe that I had made when I was losing weight years ago. It was for a low-fat cake and I remember being so surprised at how good it came out....despite the really odd ingredient.

It's a Jell-O Poke Cake. And it's so simple. So easy. But so not fancy. But the taste will surprise you!

You take a box of any white or yellow cake mix.


To the cake mix you are going to add 1 and 1/4 of your favorite diet Lemon-Lime Soda.



WHAAAAAAT??? Yes....Diet Lemon-Lime Soda.



Also add two egg whites.


Mix it all together. It's gonna look weird because of the fizziness from the soda, but it will eventually blend all together and look just like normal cake batter.

Pour the mixture into a sprayed pan and pop in the oven according to directions on the cake box. Keep and eye on it though. I found that my cake baked about 5 minutes quicker than what was on the box.

When you take it out, gently poke a bunch of holes in the cake with a fork.


Then, heat up 1 cup of water to boiling. Add in one small package of Sugar Free Jell-O and mix until dissolved. Since it was Valentine's Day, I went with Cherry. Raspberry is also tasty. I have a feeling Lemon would be really good too. I think I'm going to try that for Easter.


Ladle the Jell-O mixture all over the holes in the cake. Then put the cake in the fridge to set.



Just before serving, I put some of this fluffy goodness:


Mmmmmm!!! Cool Whip. Fat Free Cool Whip!!! I iced the entire top of the cake with it.

Slice and......



Isn't it pretty? I mean, I know it isn't Cake Boss pretty, but it's still pretty impressive when you cut out a piece. And it tasted really good.

My husband was on his second piece before I told him it was "diet". My kids had two pieces each. No one knew any better. They just really liked it. But the best part was, that on Valentine's Day, this weight watching Mom was able to have her cake.....and eat it too.