Million Dollar Cake

Moist yellow cake loaded with mandarin oranges topped with creamy pineapple frosting. Looks fancy enough for special occasions but uses cake mix and canned fruit from your pantry.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy layer cake, mandarin orange cake, million dollar cake, pineapple frosting cake

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 30

Chilling Time: 1

Total Time: 50

Servings: slices

Calories: 320kcal

Cost: $12

Equipment

2 two 9 inch round cake pans For baking layers
1 Electric mixer For mixing batter
1 Large mixing bowl For cake batter
1 Fine mesh strainer Essential for draining pineapple
2 Cooling racks For cooling layers
1 Spatula For frosting cake

Ingredients

▢ 1 box yellow cake mix 15.25 oz standard size
▢ 1 can mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained 15 oz can, reserve some for decorating
▢ 4 large eggs Room temperature preferred
▢ ⅓ cup vegetable oil Or canola oil
▢ 1 can crushed pineapple in juice 20 oz can, drain very well
▢ 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix 3.4 oz box, dry powder only
▢ 8 oz whipped topping Cool Whip or similar, thawed
▢ additional mandarin oranges For decorating the top

Instructions

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.

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.

Nutrition