Luscious Mandarin Orange Cake Recipe With a Pineapple Frosting

Margie's been an online writer for several years. Her articles focus on great Southern-style recipes for any occasion.

Mandarin Orange Cake Recipe With Pineapple Frosting

Mandarin orange cake is also called a Pig Pickin' or Pig Lickin' cake! I guess it was named that because you make a pig of yourself eating it!

This cake is so moist, creamy, and filled with distinct flavors of mandarin oranges and pineapple. The recipe is made easy with a cake mix and mandarin oranges. It's deliciously topped with a lightly sweeten frosting made with cool whip, pineapple, and instant pudding.

This scrumptious dessert will be enjoyed for any occasion, a superb choice for a birthday cake!

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow or butter cake mix
• ½ cup canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 small can mandarin oranges and juice
• 1 stick margarine

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (325 degrees Fahrenheit for dark pans).
2. Beat with an electric mixer in a large bowl, the cake mix, canola oil, eggs, mandarin oranges, and the margarine.
3. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds to mix, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Pour into the greased or sprayed a 13-inch x 9-inch pan.
5. Place the cake in the preheated oven, bake for 35 minutes or when a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake come out clean.
6. Set the cake aside to cool, about an hour.
7. Or you can make a layered cake by pouring into two greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 30 minutes.

Pineapple Frosting

I love the cool whip frosting because it had a lighter taste and is not so sugary sweet! This frosting is like the cakes you buy at the supermarket bakery.

Ingredients

• 6-ounce box vanilla instant pudding
• 8 ounce Cool Whip
• 16 ounces can crushed pineapple and juice

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl stir together the crushed pineapple and instant pudding.
2. Gently fold in the cool whip, spread on the cooled cake.
3. Keep the cake refrigerated.

How to Make Cool Whip Frosting

Pig Pickin' Cake Recipe Video

Questions & Answers

Question: Can I add the pineapple to the mandarin orange cake mix instead of the frosting?

Answer: No, I would not do that. There are recipes for pineapple cake. You do not want too much moisture in the cake batter or it will not turn out correctly.

© 2018 Margie's Southern Kitchen

Join in about this Mandarin Orange Cake!

Liza from USA on January 19, 2020:

Gosh your cake looks scrumptious! My family love anything that citrus-y in the ingredients. I recently made a lime cake and lime cupcakes. Your recipe might be one of the cakes that I want to bake this year. I love orange and pineapple. Both are my favorite fruits. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

Margie's Southern Kitchen (author) from the USA on April 11, 2018:

Hi Larry! I know you will love this yummy cake. It is hard to just have one piece. A lot of these recipe I have had in my recipe box for many years.Thanks for stopping by!

Larry W Fish from Raleigh on April 11, 2018:

That cake looks delicious. I can't wait to try it myself. Margie, you have a lot of tasty looking recipes.

Margie's Southern Kitchen (author) from the USA on March 21, 2018:

You are very welcome Janisa!

Janisa from Earth on March 20, 2018:

@MargieLynn, thanks for the suggestion. I plan to try to make it soon!

Margie's Southern Kitchen (author) from the USA on March 20, 2018:

Linda it is yummy according to me! I love sweets and this one is a very good dessert! Thanks for stopping by!

Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on March 20, 2018:

The cake definitely sounds yummy! I love the look of the creamy frosting and the thought of the orange and pineapple flavor.

Margie's Southern Kitchen (author) from the USA on March 20, 2018:

Hi Dora, it is a very yummy cake! Hope you will try sometime!

Dora Weithers from The Caribbean on March 20, 2018:

Thanks for the recipe. The mandarin orange should make it special. It looks that way.

Margie's Southern Kitchen (author) from the USA on March 20, 2018:

Mary it is a favorite at our house! Hope you enjoy it!

Mary Wickison from Brazil on March 20, 2018:

This looks very good, I love citrus cakes, cookies, and muffins.

I will have to make a few adjustments because of my location and availability of products but I can see this becoming a favorite in my household.

Margie's Southern Kitchen (author) from the USA on March 19, 2018:

I just love having fun! I thought they were cute names! I am sure the name was chosen by people who ate more than one piece! Hee, hee!

FlourishAnyway from USA on March 19, 2018:

I love the name Pig Lickin. This looks delicious.

Margie's Southern Kitchen (author) from the USA on March 19, 2018:

Hi Janisa, I have even recipes to make this from scratch! Just google it! It is so yummy!

Janisa from Earth on March 19, 2018:

Interesting cake! I never thought of mixing pineapple and mandarins for a cake, seems like a delicious combination. I want to try making this completely from scratch, if I do make it.