So naturally when I came across this recipe for Barbara Mandrell’s Pig Out Cake, I immediately put down my banjo, spit out the wheat sheaf and set to work. Not that there was a lot of work involved. Barbara’s a simple country gal, after all. And a helluva baker to boot. Her Pig Out Cake had me squealing in all the right ways.
I ate it while watching episodes of The Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters Show (now there’s a mouthful) and wondered three things: Was Barbara related to Donna Mills? Was Louise related to Katy Perry? And does Irlene ever regret not putting out an album of her greatest xylophone hits?
1 box yellow pudding cake mix (see note)
½ cup oil
4 eggs
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained (save the juice)
Add enough water to the mandarin orange liquid required for the cake mix, add oil and eggs. Mix well, fold in oranges. Bake in 9 x 13 inch pan at 325° for 35 minutes.
Frosting
1-20 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
1-4 ounce pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1-8 ounce Cool Whip
Mix and spread over cooled cake.
Note: I accidentally bought the non-pudding kind. Don't tell Barbara. I don't know if it made a difference.
If we could buy yellow pudding cake mix and Cool Whip here in Australia, I'd be whipping up Barb's Pig Out Cake right now instead of typing this!
ReplyDeleteOh, Kylie. My heart goes out to the citizens of your country. No pudding cake mix and no Cool Whip? Please tell me you have JELL-O. Please....
DeleteSorry Brian, that I can't do. No Jell-O either. We do have plain old jelly though - d'you think it's the same thing?
DeleteSadly, no. I think we Canadians need to band together and send a crate of JELL-O to Australia. Who's with me for this worthy cause?
DeleteWe lived so far out in the sticks that we didn't get the Tommy Hunter show till Tuesday. Or Gordie Tap's jokes till Thursday
ReplyDeleteYou should've put aluminum foil on your TV antenna like my family for better reception. We enjoyed a soap opera out of Nunavut for many years. It was called The Young and the Cold.
DeleteThat sounds really good! I think I might add a little coconut to it as well--because nothing succeeds like excess.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Tommy Hunter promo and thought Carroll Baker was a man in drag!
Carroll's hair seems a peculiar shade of blonde in that clip. There's no denying it.
DeleteThere's something so liberating about having the words "pig out" in the title of the recipe. Makes me feel like having that second piece would meet with Barbara's seal of approval.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It's liberating. Now excuse me while I go to make some Inhale Brownies.
DeleteWhat about the taste? Don't keep us in suspense!
ReplyDeleteThe taste was mighty fine. In my opinion, it doesn't revival the mushy decadence of Pineapple Cream Cake or Idiot Cake (both are searchable on the blog), but the mandarin pieces were a nice, citrusy touch. And with some Vitamin C as an added perk!
DeleteI work with a lot of very sophisticated foodies and this cake is gone within minutes of me bringing it to work. Last time, somebody licked the platter, and I am not kidding, because I caught her doing it. For all its simplicity, this cake is AWESOME and delicious.
ReplyDeleteYou know, those sophisticated foodie types are always the ones who get caught licking caker food platters. Just saying.
DeleteMy husband is gonna love this cake, he's all about mandarin oranges and pineapple. We took a road trip to Branson on the Harley a few years back. All I remember are buses full of really really old people...and for some reason the majority of them were wearing yellow.
ReplyDeletePolly, any time you want to go to Branson on the Harley, you just let me know. I'll wear yellow.
DeleteI made this last night and I now know why it's called "pig out" cake as I ate more than half of it in the night.
ReplyDeleteI have some questions though, where the heck do you find yellow pudding cake? I couldn't. Also what is 8 oz? I bought a one litre tub of Cool Whip and added it until the bowl was full, about 2/3 of the litre, then stirred. It seemed to make A LOT of icing, I think I'll have enough left over to make another cake. What did you do with all the icing, or is 8 oz like a tablespoon or something?
Adam, after your ordeal making Lemon Fluff, I have to tip my hat to you. You're a caker trooper. Glad you enjoyed the cake! I don't know if they still sell pudding cake mixes. Does anyone else know? I'll check the next time I'm at No Frills. For 8 ounces, you're looking at about half the tub of Cool Whip. But you can never have too much icing, in my humble opinion.
DeleteOh Brian. You really brought back some memories! My mom & I used to watch the Mandrell Sisters. Never missed it! We loved making fun of Irlene. My fave was the "flashback" skits when they had child actors playing them as kids. Maybe I'll make this cake for mom and we'll watch some old episodes on YouTube together while pigging out.
ReplyDeletePoor Irlene. She always got the short end of the stick. I highly recommend making this cake and watching the show with your mom. Those are life's golden moments!
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