Christmas Red Velvet Poke Cake -- The Cobbler That Closed Mama's Eyes

The week after Easter, and the household has returned to its three-person weekday rhythm with the ease of a system that has been contracting and expanding for three years and that no longer considers the contracting a loss. It is a breathing: inhale for holidays, exhale for ordinary days, the lungs of a household that lives between the two and that has learned to find fullness in both.

I have been writing the cookbook every morning — Chapter Three, which is about Mama's she-crab soup, which I have already written about in Chapter One but which deserves its own chapter because the soup is not one story but many: the story of the crab, the story of the cream, the story of the sherry, the story of the woman who taught me that the sherry should be generous and the stirring should be slow and the soup should taste like the marsh at high tide. The chapter is eight pages. The pages are Mama. The Mama is the soup.

Carrie called from Emory with news: she has been accepted to the study abroad program in Kyoto for fall 2021. The pin she put on her bulletin board three years ago has become a plane ticket, and the plane ticket has become a reality, and the reality is Japan, and Japan is the thing she has been walking toward since she was fifteen in a New York City tea ceremony, and the walking is almost over, and the arriving is about to begin.

I am happy for her. The happiness is uncomplicated, which surprises me, because the letting-go of Carrie has been complicated since she was fourteen and started facing away from Charleston. But the complication has resolved into clarity: Carrie's leaving is not loss. It is the fulfillment of the promise that the tea ceremony made — the promise that beauty and discipline and the world beyond Charleston were waiting for her, and the waiting is over.

I made Mama's peach cobbler — not for any occasion but because the writing of the cookbook has made me want to cook, and the wanting is the book's gift: it has reawakened the hunger for the food, the way rereading a novel reawakens the hunger for the story. The cobbler was warm and the crust was golden and Mama tasted it and closed her eyes, and the closing was the review.

The cobbler I made that week was Mama’s — but what I reached for next, once the chapter was drafted and Carrie’s Kyoto news had settled into something warm and certain in my chest, was something festive enough to match the feeling without requiring an occasion: a Christmas Red Velvet Poke Cake, because some days hold enough sweetness that the dessert should acknowledge it. The poke cake is generous the way the cobbler was generous — the kind of recipe that gives more than you expect, that opens up when you press into it, and that tastes best shared with someone who will close their eyes.

Christmas Red Velvet Poke Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 box (15.25 oz) red velvet cake mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 package (3.4 oz) instant white chocolate or vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup green and red holiday sprinkles, for garnish
• 1/4 cup crushed peppermint candies or candy canes, optional

Instructions

1. Prepare the cake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. Combine the red velvet cake mix, eggs, oil, and water in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, until smooth.
2. Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 28–32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Poke the cake. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes across the entire surface of the warm cake at 1-inch intervals, pressing down about 3/4 of the way through.
4. Pour the sweetened condensed milk. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the surface of the warm cake, letting it seep into the holes. Allow the cake to cool completely, about 30 additional minutes.
5. Make the pudding layer. Whisk together the instant pudding mix and cold milk for 2 minutes until thickened. Spread the pudding evenly over the cooled cake.
6. Top with whipped topping. Spread the thawed whipped topping in an even layer over the pudding. Smooth with an offset spatula.
7. Garnish and chill. Scatter holiday sprinkles and crushed peppermint, if using, over the top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving to allow the layers to set and the flavors to meld.
8. Serve. Cut into squares and serve cold, straight from the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 385 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 58g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 380mg