My daughter always talked about a wonderful cake called Pea Pick’n Cake when she was young. The only problem was the mother who made the cake would not share the recipe. That was before Paula Dean and internet.
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This was not uncommon for recipes to held close as a cook’s secret . It was done to protect their special statues as to being asked to make or be paid to make it. So I paid her one time to make it for her birthday. I had dropped my cake plate off so the cake could be used and paid her. When I picked the cake up, it didn’t take me but a few minuets to realize that it was a Florida Sunshine Cake that I had made before. Some of the other names for this cake is Celestial Snow Cake, Orange Pineapple Cake and Pig Lick’n Cake.
How did this orange pineapple cake end up with some many names? Hotels in Florida would serve a orange cake made with mandarin oranges topped with pineapple whipped cream or butter cream. In the early days there was not much refrigeration and canned products were used. So canned milk and fruit was what was available for chefs to use year around and convenient in this hot climate. The famous key lime pie was made from canned sweeten milk, eggs and lime juice.
Another traditional cake was the Daffodil Cake. This was a Easter sponge cake that was filled with pineapple jam and covered with pineapple whipped butter cream frosting. Sponge cake was leavened by whipping egg whites full of air. Modern baking powder was not available until 1900 that was reliable. Many cooks had their own special twist for this seasonal cake. Some cooks in different regions just matched up their daffodil frosting to a mandarin orange cake. They also took advantage of convenient products like pudding mix, cake mix and whipped toppings.
In the southern states like Georgia and the Carolina’s, pig roasts or barbecue pork roast are called pig pickings. A whole pig is roasted over a barbecue and then the meat was picked off. These barbecues are special events and everyone brings their favorite pot luck dishes and desserts. This cake became a favorite dessert at these events and became known as pig picking cake. In the Tennessee area during hog killing time and sausage and ham making events among farmers, this cake became known as pea pick’n cake. Farmers would get together and help out with this chore at each other farms and the ladies would provide a covered dish meal.
By the time the 1980′s rolled around this was a very popular cake and the recipe had made it into newspapers and women’s magazines the decade before. It was given many different names but the fact remained that this cake has it’s roots in the south.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 box of butter style yellow cake mix
1/3 cup of vegetable or canola oil
3 large eggs
1 (11 or 15 ounce) can of mandarin oranges, undrained
For the Frosting:
1 (5.1 ounce) package of instant vanilla pudding
1 (20 ounce) can of crushed pineapple, undrained
1 (16 ounce) carton of whipped topping (like Cool Whip)
Sprig of fresh mint, for garnish, optional
Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.
Prepare three round 8 or 9 inch cake pans with cooking spray. I used parchment paper on the bottom to make it easy to remove the layer after baked.
In a large mixing bowl add cake mix, eggs, and oil. Save some of the mandarin orange slices to garnish on the top. Dump the rest of the oranges and juice from the can into the mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed or by hand until blended. Divide evenly between the three cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minute until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Cool and remove from pans leaving the paper on the bottoms. Place on plates with the paper bottom down and chill in refrigerator until cold. Also place can of crushed pineapple in the refrigerator to chill also. When cake layers are cold make frosting.
To make the frosting, place pudding mix in large mixing bowl and dump the whole can of crushed pineapple and juice. Mix slowly until blended. Let stand for 5 minutes so it will thicken. Add Cool Whip and whip until light and fluffy. As you use each layer while frosting pull the paper from the bottom. Place frosting between each layer and frost top and sides. Decorate the top with saved orange slices and a sprig of mint. Store in the refrigerator.