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Good Monday to you!
And to you. And to you there, with the garden dirt still fresh on your knees.
Isn’t the Spring time weather fabulous. It seems to have come to Utah early this year, and after a very mild winter at that! Wonderful and fabulous, honkity-honk, please don’t ruin things with talk of a drought, ok? Let’s just enjoy the sunshine for what it’s worth, alright? Thanks a grundle. You are such an easy going reader. Truly.
I have an easy, light and flavorful cake recipe for you today. It’s made with a mix, which I know many of you love. The ingredients are few and easy to find. Another bonus. The taste makes you think of sunny summer weather. The frosting is light, fluffy and refreshing. The cake is moist with a hint of orange.
I hope you make the cake. I hope you love it. I hope you get to run yourself around in the sunshine today flying a kite or something, or eating an ice cream cone, or playing a little bit of hop scotch on the sidewalk.
Please refrain from doing all three at the same time.
It’s just for you own safety. I don’t want you to fall down and skin your pretty little hands. Then you couldn’t make the cake, you know.
***NOTE: This cake can also be made in a 9×13 pan. Thank you.***
CAKE:
1 box Butter Golden Cake Mix
1/2 C oil
3 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges
FROSTING:
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 (3.4 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding
1 (12 ounce) container cool whip, thawed
CAKE
1. Into a stand mixer, or large mixing bowl pour the contents of the cake mix.
2. Add 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
and 3 eggs.
3. Open up your Mandarin Orange can. Now, ladies and gentlemen. Please note that the recipe calls for one 15 ounce can of mandarin oranges (juice included, please). However, I happen to have two cases of 11 ounce cans of mandarin oranges sitting tight in my food storage. I didn’t want to search the grocery store shelves for a 15 ounce can. If you are in the same boat…
Just measure out your oranges (and juice) to equal about 15 ounces. You’ll want to reserve 8 or 9 oranges to decorate the top of your finished cake.
4. Pour the mandarin oranges and juice from the can into the mixer. Mix on low for 30 seconds. Scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes or until the batter is well combined and a bit glossy.
5. Spray 2 nine inch round cake pans generously with cooking spray. Cooking spray with flour would work really well for this recipe, if you have it. 🙂 Also, cutting yourself a piece of round parchment paper or wax paper to fit in the bottom of your pan will help the cake come out easily. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden brown on the top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and let them rest for about 5 minutes.
7. Invert the cakes to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
FROSTING
1. Place a thawed 12 ounces of cool whip into a large mixing bowl.
2. Pour 1 small box of vanilla pudding over the top of the cool whip.
3. Pour in 1 can of crushed pineapple (juice included, please) and mix all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon.
4. Choose yourself a pretty plate or platter and put a dollop of the frosting into the middle of it.
5. Place one of the cake layers onto the plate and add about 1 cup of the frosting.
Spread it out, nice and lovely like.
6. Gently place the second layer over the top and pile up the rest of the frosting on it.
Then just spread the frosting over the top and onto the sides until it looks just as pretty as a picture.
7. Decorate the top with mandarin oranges. Refrigerate if you aren’t planning to serve it right away.
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