Scrumptious Mandarin Orange Cake

Something that I learned in 2020 was that I definitely do not want to homeschool my kids. Ever. One silver lining was that my then 7-year old son grew leaps and bounds as a mini-chef. At his request, we added “baking time with mom” into his morning schedule. Now, this was a class I loved teaching! We made a lot of Nutella-based recipes. One day, he wondered what we could do with a can of mandarin oranges. Skipping the Nutella trend, we created this cake. For budding cooks with a short attention span, the prep only took four minutes: it was finished before my oven preheated!

I would definitely give my son an A+ on his baking assignment. The cake was moist and delicious, and boy did it make our house smell terrific!

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 35 mins Total time: 40 mins Serves: 8

1 (15-18 ounce) package of yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup avocado or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, undrained

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish or a 10-inch Bundt cake pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, vanilla, and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add in the mandarin oranges with juice and lightly fold into the mixture until well blended.
Pour the batter into the greased pan.
Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool.
TIPS
This cake is super easy to make gluten-free, just make sure to purchase a box of gluten-free yellow cake mix and follow the same instructions above.

Karen Nochimowski, the mom behind MommaChef.com, has loved cooking for as long as she can remember. After friends and family begged to be let in on her culinary secrets, she decided to create a blog featuring the easy, quick recipes that everyone loved. All Momma Chef recipes are made with 6 ingredients or less and take less than 6 minutes of prep time. Karen also started and runs Momma Chef's Soup Kitchen and Momma Chef's Little Free Pantry, which provides food at no cost to those in the Chicago community. Karen's first cookbook, Six Minute Meals, coming November 2022, is a cookbook of 100 simple and delicious recipes with six ingredients or less, including nut-free and allergy-friendly options, to help busy families get dinner on the table with ease.