Pig Pickin’ Cake is a thing! Who knew??? Pineapple, mandarin, creamy goodness in this cake. And nothing could be easier to make!
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This is a great summer time recipe. It bakes in a half hour if you use layer cake pans. With a cake mix, canned fruit and Cool Whip you can have the ingredients on hand and at the ready.
The only think you need to think about is that the Cool Whip needs a couple of hours in your fridge to make it soft enough to stir and spread.
Recipe credit here goes to my Southern sister-in-law. She introduced this to our family decades ago. It has made regular appearances at family gatherings ever since. I suspect it came from Southern Living or a publication like it.
The Pig Pickin’ reference may be strange to us Northerners but is just what it says… it was a commonly served dessert at pig roasts, picnics, BBQs and other gatherings.
If you Google Pig Pickin’ Cake there are lots of options returned. Surprisingly – they all stick to the traditional mandarin oranges in the cake and pineapple in the whipped topping! Who knew??
Not to worry though… it finishes off all kinds of fun meals!
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 yellow cake mix 432 grams
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 10 oz can mandarin oranges (or pieces) with its juice
Topping
- 1 14 oz can crushed pineapple with its juice
- 3 3/4 oz pkg vanilla instant pudding
- 1 Liter tub Cool Whip Note: Cool Whip needs to soften in fridge 2-4 hours
Instructions
Cake
- Grease and flour 2 9" layer cake pans. Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
- Beat cake mix, oil and eggs till incorporated. Add the mandarin oranges with their juice and beat until incorporated. The oranges will break down into bits with the beaters.
- Bake according to cake mix instructions for your pans (Probably about 25 minutes).
- Remove cake when tooth pick comes out clean. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes and turn the cakes out on to a rack to continue cooling.
Topping
- Allow Cool Whip to soften in the fridge 2-4 hours. Stir in crushed pineapple with the juice and the instant pudding powder. Stir until all is evenly incorporated.
- Remove parchment paper and move cake base to serving platter. Spread the top of the base cake with some topping mix. Add the top cake layer. Continue to spread the topping on the top and sidesof the layered cake until it is all well covered.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Keep refrigerated.
