Florida Sunshine Cake

Note: This recipe is being added without photos for the time being. I will add in pictures the very next time that I make this recipe. I am sorry for the unfinished state of this post.

Many years ago my grandmother asked me to make this cake for her birthday. The original recipe that she had called for fresh Calamondin oranges, which grew plentifully in my mom’s yard, so we were set. However, after 2 hurricanes have passed through and flooded her yard with salt water, most of her plant life is dead or no longer producing fruit, so I had to find a replacement recipe. This one is just as good as the old one and uses ingredients that most people can easily find in their supermarket.

For grandma’s birthday I paired the cake with my lemonade cream cheese frosting and everyone loved it. (As soon as I write up that “secret” recipe I will link to it for y’all. 🙂 )

Ingredients

• 1 pkg yellow cake mix (or orange)
• 4 eggs
• 2 – 3.5 ox packages instant vanilla pudding
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 2 tsp orange extract (omit if using orange cake mix)
• 1 – 11 oz can mandarin orange segments

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 – 9 inch cake pans (If you only have 2 then your cakes will need up to 10 minutes extra to bake through, but it can be done.)

Drain the oranges. Dice them into small pieces.

Combine the cake mix, eggs, pudding mix, vegetable oil, and extract in a large bowl. Beat for about 3 minutes. Stir in the orange bits.

Split the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake them for 20-25 minutes. The cakes are ready once a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn them onto wire racks to cool thoroughly before decorating.

Enjoy!