Sunshine Cake (Pig Pickin Cake)

slice of four layers of yellow mandarin cake layered with pineapple whipped cream on a plate.

5 from 5 votes

Okay, hear me out folks. I know "Pig-Pickin Cake" does not exactly sound appetizing, but I'M TELLING YOU. This cake is legit. Sometimes called a "Sunshine Cake," it is a yellow cake with mandarin oranges baked right into it, then layered with pineapple whipped cream. It's a classic from yesteryear and is SO light, bright, and tasty, you will want to bring it to every summer potluck, picnic, or BBQ this year! Also would be a great dessert for Mother's Day.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 298kcal

Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

For the cake

1 (15.25 ounce) yellow cake mix
2 (11-ounce) cans mandarin oranges drained
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

For the whipped cream topping

3 cups heavy cream*
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 (5.1-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix dry powder
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple with juices
2 (1.5 ounce) packages freeze dried pineapple blended to powder (OPTIONAL)
1/2 cup dried mandarin oranges chopped, optional

Instructions

Get yourself set up. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare four (9-inch) round cake pans by tracing the bottom of the cake pan onto parchment paper. Cut out four circles and place in the bottom of each pan. Spray each parchment-lined pan generously with nonstick spray. (if you only have two cake pans, that's fine, prep them the same way.)
Make the cake batter. In a large bowl or stand mixer, add 1 box of yellow cake mix. Open 2 cans of mandarin oranges and drain them completely. Add all the canned oranges to the the cake mix in the bowl. Add 1 cup vegetable oil. Add 4 eggs. Beat all of it together with a hand mixer. I know, this feels weird with the oranges, right? Trustttt.
Once the batter is completely mixed (the oranges will break down into small bits), carefully spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans. If you have four cake pans, you need 1 and 1/4 cup batter in each pan. (If you are using two cake pans, split the batter evenly between the pans.)
Bake the cakes at 350 degrees. If you have four pans, bake them 12-15 minutes, rotating the pans in the oven about the 9 minute mark.
If you have two pans, bake for 23-30 minutes, checking early to make sure you don't over bake.
The cake is done when the edges are just starting to pull away from the pans. Don't over bake! A toothpick inserted in the center will come out with no wet batter on it.
Let the cakes cool on wire racks. About 15 minutes after they have come out of the oven, carefully flip each cake onto the wire rack. Let cool completely.**
Make the whipped cream topping. For best results when whipping cream, put the whisk/beaters and bowl in the freezer 5-10 minutes before whipping. Chilled tools makes the cream whip higher and faster!
In a large bowl or stand mixer set up with the whisk attachment, add 3 cups of whipping cream.* Add 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Beat for 2-4 minutes, until soft peaks are forming.
Add in the entire 5.1-ounce package of pudding mix. Mix for about 30 seconds. It will start to get very thick and even look a little congealed or grainy. Don't panic.
Add the 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple WITH all of the juices. Fold in with a rubber spatula, until it looks light and fluffy.
You can stop here, but if you have the freeze dried pineapple, it really bumps up the flavor in this cake! Use a food processor or blender to blend two (1.5 ounce) packages of freeze dried pineapple until it is a fine powder. Add to the whipped cream mixture. Fold in with a rubber spatula until it is light and fluffy and fully combined.
If you are not ready to assemble the cake now, cover and refrigerate the whipped cream.
Split your cakes, if necessary. If you baked the cake in two layers, split each layer horizontally with a large serrated bread knife to make 4 layers. Place your serrated knife at about the halfway down point on the side of the cake, and gently saw back and forth toward the center of the cake. Turn the cake every so often as you cut, to make sure you are cutting evenly.
Assemble the cake. Place the first layer of cake down on a serving plate. Top with about 1/4 of the whipped cream topping. Spread to the edges and make sure the whole top is well covered, but not the sides of the cake. Continue with each layer until you've added them all.***
Decorate with extra mandarin oranges, fresh pineapple, or pipe on plain whipped cream. OR top with chopped up dried mandarins, you can get them online or at Trader Joe's! Love the chew factor this adds, but it's optional.
Store this cake in the fridge, for sure. That whipped cream topping needs to be chilled!

Notes

*Heavy cream is sold near the milk in the dairy section. It is not coffee creamer. Sometimes it is labeled whipping cream, ultra heavy whipping cream, etc. These names differentiate fat content levels. For making whipped cream, buy the cream with the highest fat content you can! The cream I use has 36% fat content. 40% is even better.

** If you want to speed up the process of cooling your cakes, you can toss them in the freezer for a few minutes! Wrap in plastic wrap if you can't fit the whole cooling rack in the freezer. Just make sure they stay flat and don't get misshapen.

*** The crushed pineapple in this cake is so tasty, but it makes the frosting look kinda weird. It's just not a smooth frosting like people are expecting on a layer cake, so I don't like to frost the entire outside of the cake. The "naked cake" trend, with exposed edges, is the answer. But if you prefer, add less whipped cream to each inside layer (about 1 cup per layer) and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.

Nutrition