Pan full of sunshine (recipe alert)

Last night I hosted my local Mom's club card group. This is a bunch of ladies that get together once a month to make cards and have fun. I'll post my card tomorrow, but I wanted to share the cake I made with you.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments
* 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
* 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
* 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix


OPTIONAL
* 1 capful of Vanilla extract (not optional for me, but might be for you)
* 1 (11 ounce) can of mandarin orange segments to garnish cake

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 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.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
4. To make the topping: In a large bowl, beat together whipped topping, pineapple with juice and dry pudding mix until blended. Spread on cake.
5. You can serve this cake immediately after icing, but it's really better after sitting in the fridge overnight.
   

Yes, it uses a cake mix. If you are cake snob who only makes your own homemade concoctions, then you'll have to figure out how to adapt this to your needs.

The secret to cake mix success is, however, VANILLA EXTRACT. Seriously. If you want to add richness and a homemade flavor to a cake mix cake, add a capful of vanilla extract - NOT VANILLA FLAVORING.












The finished cake is quite pretty. Sorry for not getting a photo before we dove into it. I also had a piece of this cake this morning with coffee and whoa buddy it's tasty.