Video summary
This video features Tammy from "Valley Cooks" sharing a heartfelt tribute to her late church friend, Mrs. Thrasher, by recreating a special orange surprise cake she used to make. The recipe is a beloved family favorite often referred to as "pig picking cake," which combines a Duncan Hines yellow cake mix with vanilla pudding, crushed pineapple, and fresh mandarin oranges. To enhance the flavor profile beyond just the fruit pieces, Tammy adds two tablespoons of orange-flavored gelatin directly into the batter, ensuring the cake has a distinct orange taste throughout. She emphasizes that while the process is simple enough to be done by hand without an electric mixer, folding in the fruit gently is crucial to preserving nice chunks of orange for every bite.
While preparing the batter and baking the cake in two 8-inch layers, Tammy shares personal anecdotes about her friendship with Mrs. Thrasher, who never had children but loved cooking and volunteering in the church nursery. The video captures a warm, nostalgic atmosphere as Tammy reflects on their weekly conversations about grocery sales and her friend's passing, noting that she feels Mrs. Thrasher is watching and approving of the cake being made. During this time, she also takes a moment to admire some lilies and baby's breath flowers she recently purchased, adding a touch of spring decor to her kitchen before returning to the baking process.
Once the cake is baked and cooled, Tammy prepares a fluffy frosting using an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple juice, a package of vanilla instant pudding, and an 8-ounce container of Cool Whip. She advises viewers against using True Whip for this specific dessert due to its different texture, recommending either Cool Whip or whipping cream instead for the best results. The icing is mixed until smooth and then generously spread over the cooled cake layers, which are assembled on a serving plate. Tammy takes care to cover the top and sides completely, noting that it takes more frosting than one might expect to achieve a full coating.
The final presentation reveals a moist, vibrant yellow cake filled with fruit, which Tammy suggests would look even prettier with white cake layers if fresh coconut were used, though she sticks with her tested yellow version for this specific recipe. She tops the finished cake with a few pieces of whole pineapple to create an attractive garnish before slicing and serving it. Throughout the video, Tammy encourages viewers to trust her adapted recipes rather than strictly following what they see in the mixer, as she often tweaks ingredients like adding extra vanilla pudding or orange gelatin to make the dish even more delicious. The video concludes with a warm invitation for viewers to enjoy this easy, spring-themed dessert that honors the memory of a cherished friend.
Read the full video transcript
Y'all it's Tammy. What color Valley
cooks? I have some old recipes of mine
and remember the cake a friend of mine
from church who is now in heaven gave
me. It was an orange surprise cake. But
I've learned since I made this that a
lot of people call it the pig picking
cake. It is going to be delicious. It's
an orange It's cake with oranges in it.
You use a yellow cake mix and then you
use some vanilla pudding and some
pineapple and the icing. It's going to
be really good. And we're just going to
use a Duncan Hines jelly cake mix and
we're going to go ahead and put that in
our bowl. I'm just going to mix
everything all at one time. I've got it
[snorts] open.
You're going to use 3/4 cups of milk.
A half a stick of butter softened and I
stuck it in the microwave just for
long enough to
get it soft.
You're going to use three eggs in here.
And then you're just going to mix it up.
I'm going to throw some
orange
Jell-O in here.
Make it taste even better cuz I want it
be orange it
not just have the oranges in it but
taste a little bit orangey. This is
orange flavored gelatin.
I'm going to put about 2 tablespoons in
here.
Now I'll show y'all the box. It's just
Jell-O
orange
flavoring
gelatin.
All right. So we're just going to mix
this up.
We're going to put our oranges in last
cuz you don't want to beat them up.
Now I'm going to taste it and see if
it's orangey enough.
Cuz a yellow cake mix really has some
flavor to it. Well, I just made a mess.
So I'm going to taste this.
You can't even taste the orange.
Should we just put the whole thing in
there?
I say yes.
Going to be sweet ain't it?
All right, that should get it.
Now let me lick these beaters. Then
we're going to fold in these oranges and
get it in the oven.
While we're over here
I'm going to spray
two 8-in layers
with some cooking spray. This has got
flour in it.
I always do it over the sink.
When we were over Eddie's at the
holidays, I don't know if y'all remember
but he did the same thing. He said,
"Let's go over here to the sink and
spray these."
That's what I want
like to do.
Get them sprayed it good.
Set them down right here.
Got stuff in the way.
Our grocery store Well,
our oven's preheated, y'all. Perfect
timing. Our grocery store started
carrying flowers.
And uh it used to didn't. And they just
got in a little cooler and they had
these lilies and they had baby's breath
and they weren't real expensive and I
thought, "I'm getting me some lilies and
baby's breath." And isn't it pretty on
the table, y'all? It's so pretty. All
right. So, we're taking a can of
mandarin oranges.
And I drained them.
And we're going to put them in here.
Mix them up.
And you don't need to mix it, you know.
It won't hurt them to break up a little
bit
cuz it's a thick batter.
All right. But, remember when that
butter gets more to
uh temperature, it'll be a little
runnier in the batter, too.
We're going to get these in the pans.
And we're going to make that delicious
Cool Whip frosting. It's Cool Whip with
pineapple and vanilla
pudding. It's going to be so good,
y'all.
I bet y'all had one of these.
Y'all let me know
if your mama did this, too.
This was my friend, Miss Thrasher. She
never had any kids, but boy, I went to
church with her, she loved to cook.
Me and her would talk about what was on
sale every week at the grocery store.
We'd talk about the sales papers, and we
had a ball, me and her.
She's up there in heaven watching me
make this cake right now.
Hey, Miss Thrasher, right?
>> [laughter]
>> Hope I'm doing it right, and she's
approving of it. All right, let's get it
in the oven and get it done, and then
we're going to make our icing, y'all.
Okay.
We'll [snorts] see y'all in a bit.
Yummy.
a while to get done cuz of all the fruit
that they have in them.
That one sunk a little bit, but it's
fuller than the other one.
But, we'll get these uh flipped out as
soon as they cool down enough that I can
touch the pan, and then we're going to
make our delicious icing.
Always go by my recipes, not by what you
see me put in the mixer, cuz sometimes I
make mistakes, and a lot of times I
change it up to make it even more
delicious.
You don't want to beat them up with your
mixer and tear them into little tiny
pieces. That's what's so good about this
cake is getting a nice piece of orange
in the bite.
Looks delish. Okay.
Now, [clears throat] I'm going to spray
this pan with a non-
stick baking spray that has flour in it.
I'm going to do a really good job. I try
to stay away from the camera so that it
doesn't get in the lens.
This is so easy, y'all, and you don't
even have to have an electric mixer to
make this cake. You can always use a
hand mixer
if you don't have an electric
stand mixer.
We're going to spread this out in here.
It's a bunch of oranges in one spot.
Now, you're going to bake this at 350°
for about 40 minutes, probably, in order
for it to get done in a sheet cake pan.
Make sure toothpick comes out clean
and do not open the oven for at least 30
minutes, okay? You don't want it to fall
in the middle.
We're going to slide this into the oven.
And get it started.
All right, our cake is done.
Rose up nice.
We'll let it cool all the way down
before we ice it, of course, because
that is a Cool Whip top icing. So, the
cake needs to be chilled or at least at
room temperature. Look at this little
cat trivet I got. Isn't it sheer doll?
You need a good mother state.
All right, time to put the icing on the
cake.
And all you need is an 8-oz crushed
pineapple
juice and all
and one package of vanilla instant
pudding, and this is the small pack.
3.4 oz
vanilla pudding.
Make sure we get all this pineapple.
And all you do is mix that together
good, then you're going to fold in an
8-oz [clears throat] Cool Whip.
And I told you guys on another video
that I had used that True Whip.
Um and I tried it,
but it's not good for these recipes
because the texture is a lot different.
So, if you see that in the store,
the True Whip, it's fine if you're just
eating it with your, you know,
fruit and stuff, but
if you're wanting to make a dessert out
of it like this one, it's best to
actually buy the Cool Whip brand or the
whipping cream from the store brand.
And
Cool Whip.
Container of Cool Whip.
And we're going to fold it together.
This is a fluffy icing.
Pineapple, vanilla,
and whipping cream.
Make sure we mix it up good.
That should do it.
Now we're going to get it on the cake.
Looks good, don't it?
Plenty of icing
for this sheet cake, especially.
Yummy.
>> [clears throat]
>> Now we're going to ice it.
I'm using a plate because I want to put
this in my refrigerator.
This cake should be refrigerated.
And you're going to see that these
layers are awfully
They're going to be awfully soft. And
the fruit it makes it look like it
wouldn't done, but it's just the fruit
on the bottom.
So, we're going to take the layer.
And I think I'm going to put this side
down that way. Maybe it'll slice better
when I get it sliced.
Lord, I'm I'm making it in this on this
uh
What do you call it? plate
>> The white plate?
>> Yeah.
>> No, with the white cake.
>> Yeah.
But that's all right.
A little extra right here.
Lord, I'm going to have plenty of icing.
Going to have to
I don't know what we're going to do.
>> It'll be good on some muffins or
something.
>> Yeah.
Come around here, baby, while I pour
this on the top and then you can
They're going to have to be around here
to see what I how I ice the sides
anyway, probably.
Actually, you may have to go back around
once I
There you go.
I want for y'all to have a good view.
All right, I'm going to just push this
around the top.
Just like that.
Grab a little bit on my spatula.
And I push it
from the top to the side.
So, let's get some more on the top.
Let's be generous.
Well, we're going to use it all.
Takes a lot more to
ice a cake than you think.
Anyway, let me tell y'all about Miss
Thrasher. Miss Thrasher
and I
really loved to sit together at church
and
she
done the baby nursery for as long as she
could even remember and she didn't have
kids. So, she got her feel of babies at
church.
And so, she was always in the baby
nursery on Sunday morning.
But, she served in there
almost every Sunday. And uh
we just hit it off.
Cuz I always worked the nursery and
me and her became friends and
it was just a good
friendship that we had there at church.
Yummy orange
cake with pineapple icing.
>> [snorts]
>> All right, I saved the pineapple down at
the bottom. This is the piece of one
to decorate the top of the cake with.
So, if you're taking it somewhere
of course, if you use crushed pineapple,
you won't have pineapple.
But, if you have one, then
put it on there like that.
Pretty.
Needs just a little right there.
Use it all.
Now, this is an easy cake and look how
pretty and yellow it looks for Easter.
So pretty.
That's a pretty cake.
A delicious frosting.
Okay. All right, we're going to take us
out one.
And sometimes the first one don't work
as well.
So, if it don't for some reason,
we'll get another one.
Looks pretty to me.
That's a pretty piece of cake, easy to
serve
if you're going somewhere.
This is wonderful cake. And remember,
this is going to be a very moist cake
cuz it's got that
fruit in it.
That pineapple's good and strong.
And
that's one reason that I think you
should always use a white layer when
you're making fresh coconut because
fresh coconut has such a mild flavor.
And if you put coconut with a yellow
layer,
um it's just hard to it just gets
overpowering.
Y'all know me and my cakes. I like cake.
And uh this is a really good cake. It's
good for the spring. It's pretty.
It's
uh would even look probably I don't know
how much the color would change
um if it were a white layer.
Um but it's really, really good
and delicious.
So, Miss Thrasher knows me well enough
to know that I put my spin on it. So,
we'll be using a little bit more vanilla
pudding,
some orange jello flavoring in the layer
in a white layer instead of a yellow
layer. So, y'all check that out in the
recipe. Always go by my recipes, not by
what you see me put in the mixer cuz
sometimes I make mistakes and a lot of
times I change it up to make it even
more delicious. Thanks for watching
Colored Valley Cooks, where we cook like
Miss Thrasher did.
Yummy.
>> [music]
>> Best food you ever had.