Heavenly Mandarin Orange Cake

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Heavenly Mandarin Orange Cake

Total Time 45

Servings

Calories 315

Ingredients

Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (11 oz) can mandarin orange segments, in juice

Frosting

½ (3.4 oz) box vanilla instant pudding mix
Water
1 (12 oz) tub Cool Whip topping
¾ cup shaved almonds, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 15x10x2-inch cake pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, and eggs; beat until mixture is well-blended.
Add mandarin oranges with juice; beat 2 minutes longer.
Spoon batter into prepared cake pan.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until a pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove and cool completely, about one hour.
When cake is cool, prepare frosting: In a small bowl, mix pudding with enough water until well-blended and smooth. In a large mixing bowl, gently fold pudding mixture into the Cool Whip.
Frost cake. Sprinkle with shaved almonds, as shown.

Notes

I use Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix and canola oil, but any yellow cake mix and vegetable oil should do the trick.

I also use a fat-free instant pudding mix and Lite Cool Whip® to reduce some of the calories. I know, I know . . . fat-free and Lite aren’t going to reduce much of anything here. But this is not meant to be a healthy dessert. It is what it is—a delicious, moist cake with a yummy frosting—and all those things that make it so good are not, unfortunately, so good for you. If you’re counting calories or watching sugar intake, take care. Take a little piece or take none at all. It’s your choice.

Shaved almonds can be substituted with crushed pecans or walnuts, if desired.

Pineapple or mandarin orange juice can be used instead of water. If I have either juice in the house, I’ll use it. Here’s what I sometimes do: (1) Buy an extra can of mandarin orange slices, (2) use the juice, instead of water, for the frosting, and (3) use the slices to garnish the pieces of cake as I serve it.

Need an easy way to crush nuts? Put the nuts into a plastic zip-lock baggie and use a rolling pin over it until nuts have the desired consistency. When finished, you can simply toss out the baggie. Clean and easy!

Serving size: 1 slice ♥ Calories: 315

NUTRITION

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