Pea Picking Cake

This is my all time favorite cake. My grandmother always made it at family gatherings, and it was something I always looked forward to. When I moved far enough away that I wouldn't be able to attend many of those gatherings, I asked for copies of some of her recipes, so she let me borrow her ancient tin box full of her favorites. I found that she had clipped this recipe from a newspaper forever ago. It has ingredients that are very common to me but that probably were really special and novel in my grandmother's day.
In recent years, I have seen other versions of this cake by other names, so it may seem familiar. I'm giving it to you the way I always had it, but add coconut and/or pecans as you like, make it into cupcakes, or call it whatever you want! Either way, I hope you treasure it the way I always have!

I pulled this image off another site. You may notice nuts and coconut. They are not in my recipe, but you can add them if you like! I'd toast them both, but that's just my preference. I make it without anyway.

Pea Picking Cake (Grandma calls it Pea Picker Cake)

For the Cake:
1 yellow cake mix
1 stick margarine
4 eggs
1 (11oz) can mandarin oranges, with juices

Preheat oven to 325, and grease and flower 3 9-inch cake pans.
Mix together the cake ingredients until smooth (about 3 minutes w/an electric mixer), pour evenly into pans, and bake 25-30 minutes.
Remove cake from pans when cool enough to handle and allow to cool all the way before frosting.

For the Frosting:

1 (8oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (15oz) can crushed pineapple, with juices
1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding mix

Mix pudding and pineapple and juice together in a small bowl, then fold in whipped topping. Spread between and around cooled cake layers.
Refrigerate cake until serving.