Mandarin Orange Cake

Summer has finally arrived in Portland, so I thought it was time to dust off my favorite summer cake recipe.  Not only is it super delicious, but incredibly quick and easy too!

I don’t use a lot of cake mixes, but I do have a few “go to” recipes that start with a cake mix base.  I may try nixing the mix next time in favor of making my own butter cake, but for now, we’ll stick to the old faithful method.

Mandarin Orange Cake 

1 Duncan Hines Butter cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1-11 oz can mandarin orange sections, undrained

Technique:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. 
2. Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil together. 
3. Gently fold in orange sections. 
4. Pour into greased pan and bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
5. After cooling cake completely, frost and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. 

Frosting 

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small vanilla instant pudding mix
1-16 oz undrained crushed pineapple

Technique:

1. Combine whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla.  Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Approximately 5 minutes. 
2. Stir in pudding mix and pineapples until fully incorporated. 

Brittany’s Tips 

• I usually drain the mandarin orange slices just a little before folding into the cake mixture.  I drain about 1/3 of the liquid so it doesn’t make the cake too soggy. 
• Make sure your baking pan has at least 1 inch sides…so obviously a completely flat cookie sheet won’t work. 
• This cake will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week and in fact tends to be better 2 or 3 days after you make it. 
• This is a thin sheet cake, so I like to double up slices and serve it like a two layer cake. 

Enjoy the Sunshine and Happy Baking!