This Mandarin Orange Cake Recipe is the stuff of legends. You may have grown up calling it Pig Pickin Cake. Everyone who tries this cake needs the recipe and then is shocked by how few ingredients you need to make it.
You only need SEVEN ingredients to make this orange pineapple cake, and that includes the frosting!
This is a classic cake recipe that lots of you grew up eating and loving at family gatherings, church picnics, and back yard BBQs. I got this recipe from my neighbor and fell in love immediately.
Anywhere she takes this cake people need the recipe. And for good reason. It is moist, packed with flavor, and best of all it is super easy to throw together.
I made this cake for work and it was a winner! Everyone loved it, I will be making this again and again. Thank you!
Ingredients for Orange Cake
One of the best parts about this cake is how few ingredients you need to make it!
- Yellow Cake Mix: You can pick your favorite brand. Or you can even use a homemade recipe yellow cake mix.
- Mandarin Oranges: These are for the cake and you will want to buy a can of these and not use a fresh mandarin orange, because you are using the juice too and want them completely peeled like you get in the can.
- Oil: I love using vegetable oil most for recipes like this.
- Eggs
- Cool Whip: You can also use my recipe for stabilized whipped cream.
- Vanilla Pudding Mix: This is for the frosting and you want to make sure you buy instant pudding mix, not the cook and serve kind. You will just be using the dry mix.
- Crushed Pineapple: You will be using a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple for the frosting, and you will use both the juice and the fruit.
How to Make Pig Pickin Cake
- Make the cake. Combine the cake mix (you are not following the instructions on the box or using the ingredients it calls for), mandarin oranges, eggs, and oil. Pour into a 9 by 13 inch pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Make the frosting. Combine the cool whip, the undrained pineapples, and the dry pudding mix. Beat until smooth.
- Frost the cake. Once the cake is completely cooled, frost it with the frosting, serve and enjoy.
Making Ahead and Storing
For best results, this cake should be made right before serving or up to 24 hours in advance.
Leftovers should be covered and stored in the refrigerator. They can be stored for up to four days.
FAQ
Nope! You can add them as they are in the can. They will break up a little as your mixing all the ingredients together, and that is just perfect.
Correct! The pineapple and the juice go into the frosting. I promise it won’t be too runny. Don’t forget that you re also adding dry pudding mix.
Nope! They get added without draining.
No. Whipped cream isn’t stable and it alone can’t be used as a frosting. You can, however, use my stabilized whipped cream recipe in place of Cool Whip.
Bundt cakes are really tricky and can’t be made straight from another cake recipe without tweaks being made.
Other Easy Desserts
I have lots of great dessert recipes that take short cuts from store bought ingredients. I love baking from scratch, but I love how fun and easy these are for the kids to make too!
If you make this great orange pineapple cake or any of my other desserts be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Mandarin Orange Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 box yellow cake mix (just the dry cake mix – 15.25 ounces)
- 1 15 ounce can mandarin oranges (undrained)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
For the Frosting
- 12 ounces cool whip (or our recipe for stabilized whipped cream)
- 1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple undrained
- 1 3.4 ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix (just the pudding mix)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 13 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, with a hand mixer or a spoon, mix together the yellow cake mix, the can of mandarin oranges, the eggs and the vegetable oil. Pour into the prepare pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, being careful not to over bake.
- Let the cake completely cool.
- In a large bowl whip together the cool whip, pineapple, and vanilla pudding mix. Spread over the cooled cake and serve!
Recipe Video
Marveen says
I have made this cake so many times and everyone loves it. It has been my go-to dessert all summer. Today I couldn’t find any yellow cake mix at my store so I had to make it with a white mix. It is in the oven right now. Please tell me it will be ok. I am bringing it to a party.
I think it will still be delicious.
Mary says
I actually froze it. It was delicious…..
I’m glad you liked it!
Valerie MIddleton says
I love this recipe. I make it all the time. My Dad is 91 and he is always asking me to make this cake for him. Thank you
I’m so happy to hear that!
Deborah says
can you use butter golden cake mix
I haven’t tested with that. I’m not sure on taste, but in terms of how it works, I’ms are it will work just fine.
Vicki says
I have made this cake for years, beginning when I worked in an AIDS care facility in the 1980s. It was always requested for dinners and birthday parties because it is so cool and refreshing and not overly sweet. When my partner developed cancer and had to have all of his teeth pulled out, it was one of the few things he could stand to eat. I made it for some elderly neighbors this weekend and they adored it. I call this an absolute world class recipe!
I love hearing about people’s memories with this one!
Pam says
My brother in laws favorite cake
Kim Redbird says
I have a question. If I don’t use cake mixes, can I use a recipe for a basic yellow cake? Do I leave out anything?
It might require some testing. You would of course need to take out the eggs and vegetable oil. I’m not sure how the oranges will impact the recipe you are working with.
Theresa says
A cup of vegetable oil was entirely too much oil. The back of a cake mix said a fourth of a cup. You said a cup of vegetable oil so I put a half a cup and I can still taste that oiliness in that cake. So definitely nobody listen to that one cup of oil way too much oil
We will have to agree to disagree.
Gracie says
I can’t wait to get these recipes
Susan Gray says
I just found this recipe in my mom’s recipe box. She used to make this cake but hers was a round layered cake. It had no directions with it. Do I just need to put in two round pans? I’m not a baker! She died so I can’t ask. Thanks
Hi Susan! I totally feel you. I have so many recipes that my mom made that I didn’t get to ask her about before her passing. Sally has a great post about converting cakes from one size pan to another. Basically, you could put this in two 8 or 9 inch cake rounds, but you will want to bake them for less time since they won’t be as full. If I were testing this, I would probably start checking the cakes around 25 minutes. They should be just the beginning of golden around the edges and when you insert a toothpick in the middle it should come out with just a few crumbs. Good luck!