Mandarin Orange Cake

I tried a new recipe last night. Bill's mom used to make a cake like this so I tried to recreate it with a recipe we found online and it was pretty dang close! The cake is so moist and delicious, and the topping is light and fluffy. Perfect spring time dessert!

INGREDIENTS:

1 yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 11oz can mandarin orange segments

1 8oz container Cool Whip

1 20oz can crushed pineapple with juice

1 3.4oz package instant vanilla pudding mix

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and mandarin oranges with juice. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. (If you want chunkier pieces of orange in the cake, set aside about 1/3 of the can of mandarin oranges to fold in after you've combined your mixture.)

3. Bake in oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.

4. To make topping, in a large bowl beat together Cool Whip, pineapple with juice, and dry pudding mix until blended. (The pineapple will make it look kinda lumpy.) Spread on the cake. It goes on thick.

Here's a picture of the finished product! If you want to get super fancy you can always add pieces of fruit to the top of the cake. You'll want to keep it in the fridge, naturally, and I feel that it serves better cold.

Enjoy!!