Patriotic Poke Cake

Ladies and Gentleman, please give a warm welcome back to Cassie's baking abilities!!!

In case you haven't been part of the unlucky few who live in my house and have been subjected to my bad baking lately, I've been a path of strike-outs for a few weeks. But I'm proud to say I finally hit a homerun. This cake is phenomenal! The white cake layers are scrumptious and moist. The Jell-O gives the cake such a fun, bright flavor. And the frosting... WOW! I love boiled flour buttercreams! They are just genius and crazy delicious! So creamy and wonderful! Not to mention, this cake looks so festive and awesome. Woo hoo! I'm back!

Thanks to Jell-O for coming up with the basic idea for this cake. And thanks to Tish Boyle for the Basic White Cake Layers recipe in "The Cake Book." Another A+ recipe from her! :) Also, thanks to the boys of "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking" for their outstanding boiled buttercream frosting recipe. I adapted it a little by adding a tiny bit of lemon zest to match the brightness of the berry flavored Jell-o in the cake. I think I'm gonna go have a tiny slice right now!Patriotic Poke Cake (inspired by Jell-O and AllRecipes.com)

2 baked 9-inch round white cake layers, cooled (recipe below)
2 cups boiling water, divided
1 (3 ounce) package Jell-O, any red flavor (I used strawberry)
1 (3 ounce) package Jell-O, Berry Blue flavor
1 recipe of your favorite frosting (recipe below)

Place cake layers, top sides up, in 2 clean 9-inch round cake pans. Pierce cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals (I used a chopstick for larger spread out holes).
In one bowl, stir 1 cup of the boiling water into red Jell-O. In a separete bowl, stir 1 cup boiling water into Berry Blue Jell-O. Stir for 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Carefully pour red gelatin over 1 cake layer and Berry Blue gelatin over second cake layer. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 hours.
Dip one cake pan in warm water 10 seconds; unmold onto serving plate. Spread with about 1 cup of frosting. Unmold second cake layer; carefully place on first cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh fruit, if desired. Store leftover cake in refrigerator.

Basic White Cake Layers (from “The Cake Book” by Tish Boyle)
Makes 2 9” cake layers

3 1/4 cups (11.5 oz/325 g) sifted cake flour (Notice it doesn’t say "cake flour, sifted." SIFT FIRST, and WEIGH it!)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks/8 oz/227 g) unsalted butter, softened (around 65-67°F)
1 1/2 cups (10.6 oz/300 g) granulated sugar
6 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups (320 ml) whole milk

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans. Dust the pans with flour.
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat at high speed until light, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.
If you have a splatter shield for your mixer, attach it now (the milk tends to splash up as you add it). Add the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating it with the milk in additions and mixing just until the flour is incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly, and smooth the tops.
Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges (In 8” round pans, mine took about 32 minutes). Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Invert the layers onto the racks and cool completely.
Store at room temperature, covered in foil, for up to 5 days.

Boiled Buttercream Frosting (from "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used all 1% milk)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces (of course I reduced this to 2 1/2 sticks because that's just how I do!)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 20 minutes (It will look like VERY thick glue when it's ready).
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool (I let mine cool to room temp in the fridge). Reduce the speed to low and add the butter; beat until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and lemon zest and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, transfer the bowl to the refrigerator to chill slightly; then beat again until it is the proper consistency. If the frosting is too firm, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.