Aunt Susie's Cake

From The Body in the Snowdrift by Katherine Hall Page

Cake:

1 box good-quality yellow cake mix

4 large eggs

¾ cup canola oil

1 11-oz. can mandarin oranges packed in juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cake mix, eggs, and oil in a bowl. Mix according to the directions on the box. Fold in the oranges, including juice, and mix well. Pour into 3 greased round cake pans. Be sure the orange pieces are evenly distributed. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans and cool on racks while you make the frosting.

Frosting:

1 small package instant vanilla pudding

1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple packed in juice

1 large container Cool Whip or other whipped topping

Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice. Mix together the juice and the instant pudding. Add the Cool Whip and drained pineapple, then mix. Spread some of the frosting between the layers and use the rest on top and sides of cake.

A couple of notes from Julie:

- Divide up the cake batter evenly between the pans. This may seem obvious to most people, but because I only have two round cake pans, it was hard to eye-ball it because I had to bake the layers in two batches.

- I only had a regular sized Cool Whip (actually generic brand), and there was more than enough frosting.

- I made this the day ahead, so I refrigerated it overnight. I don't know if that's necessary, but with the cool whip and fruit, I figured it might not hold together if it was room temperature. That, or maybe it would start to ferment.

- This is from a series of "light" or "homespun" mystery novels by Katherine Hall Page. I actually liked the first couple much better than the more recent ones. This one was so-so. The Body in the Attic was pretty good.