Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease two 9 inch round cake pans.
- Drain mandarin oranges and reserve a few segments for decorating the finished cake.
- Combine cake mix, drained mandarin oranges, eggs, and oil in a large bowl and beat until smooth with orange pieces throughout the batter.
- Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean, avoiding overbaking as the cake should be very moist.
- Cool layers in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks and let cool completely before frosting.
- Drain crushed pineapple thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer, pressing firmly with a spoon to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Mix drained pineapple with dry pudding mix powder, then fold in whipped topping until combined and frosting is thick and spreadable.
- Place first cake layer on a serving plate and spread about one third of frosting on top, going to the edges.
- Add second cake layer on top and frost the top and sides of entire cake with remaining frosting.
- Arrange reserved mandarin orange segments decoratively around the top edge of the cake, pressing gently into frosting.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving to let frosting firm up and flavors meld together.
Nutrition
Notes
Drain the pineapple thoroughly by pressing it in a strainer for several minutes or the frosting will be too runny and slide off the cake. I learned this after my first attempt resulted in frosting pooling on the plate instead of staying on the layers.