For some weird reason I haven’t tried to make my formerly famous Punch Bowl Cake since I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2011. I used to make it a lot for big family or work functions. It’s pretty easy to make, looks very impressive and serves a lot!!

This last fourth of July, after a crazy year of pandemic lock downs, my husband begged me to make my punch bowl cake. I already mentioned that it’s easy to make but you need to make sure you start early enough in the day. Don’t let that scare you away, it’s not super time consuming, it just requires some cooling and chilling time. It’s also easy to Make it Gluten-Free, you just need to find the right gluten-free substitutes. In addition to being easy and feeding a lot of people, it’s also fun!! You can get creative with this cake when it comes to the top, I love to make fun berry patterns to fit the occasion!

Gluten-Free Substitutes

Most of the ingredients in the punch bowl cake are already naturally gluten-free. Only two of the layers are “at risk” for having gluten in them, the cake mix and the pudding. Most pudding is already gluten-free, just be aware, there could be some hidden gluten in there so check the box! I usually use Jell-O brand which is not specifically labeled gluten-free but I have had no problems with it and according to celiac.com they find it safe too!

So that just leaves the cake mix as your biggest risk. There really are so many gluten-free cake mix options out there so it’s super easy to make the punch bowl cake gluten-free. Good ‘ol Betty Crocker has tons of gluten-free cake mixes out there. They are probably my favorite, easy to work with and easy to find. The only hitch to the gluten-free cake mix is that the boxes are usually SMALL compared to regular cake mix so you need to use two.

Plan Ahead – start in the morning!

Don’t let that scare you, you won’t be working on it all day I promise! This punch bowl cake calls for a yellow cake mix, prepared, cooled, and cubed. Now that’s the part I’ve always had a hard time with… I’m kind of a last minute person so I have to remember to make the cake ahead of time to allow it time to cool. As long as you do that the rest is super easy!!

Oh wait, there is one more thing I’ve had a hard time with… you gotta get the cool whip out of the freezer when you are making up the cake mix, that way it has time to defrost and is SO much easier to spread!!

I’ve found it works best for me to prepare the cake and thaw the cool whip first thing in the morning if I plan to serve the punch bowl cake by mid-afternoon. You also need to allow for an hour of chilling time after the masterpiece is put together.

Punch Bowl Cake

Ingredients

• 2 boxes gluten-free yellow cake mix, prepared, COOLED, cubed
• 20oz can crushed pineapple, with juice to sprinkle over cake
• 2 large boxes (5.9 oz each) instant vanilla pudding, prepared, NOT set
• 16 oz tub cool whip, thawed
• 20 oz can cherry pie filling (or substitute fresh strawberries)
• Berries for the top decoration – strawberries, raspberries and blue berries are perfect for a festive 4th of July treat!

Directions

1. In a large glass/clear punch bowl layer with 1/2 of each in above order then repeat with second layer.
2. Chill 1 hour before serving.

Pro Tip: To get a nice clear line of red from the cherries I like to drop the cherries cleanly around the edge then sprinkle any remainder in the middle. The middle doesn’t have to be a solid layer, no one will see it. When the scoop goes in it all gets mixed together anyways.

Get creative and have fun with it! Check out some of our other fun berry decorations 🙂