Last updated on February 6th, 2020 at 05:43 am

You may have had a Pig Lickin’ cake or a mandarin orange cake before, but these small Orange Sunrise dessert shooters are a deconstructed version of that classic.  Fluffy cake, pineapple whip cream, and mandarin orange segments make a great dessert for Summer!

Have you ever heard of an Orange Pig Lickin’ Cake?  My mom and I used to make it all the time because you just throw it together and off you go!  It is so tropical with the orange and pineapple flavors and stays so moist!

We found the recipe in a “country” cookbook and when I say “country” I mean South, boots, boiled peanuts, talk with a twang, country.  I’m not judging because I live down South now.  

South Georgia to be exact.  Check out my pickled boiled peanuts if you don’t believe me…

Everything here revolves around peanuts and Vidalia onions, blueberries, and of course, football.  Life involves church, family, suppers, and our Southern traditions.  We take great pride in the pot-luck dinner, Friday night lights, and our community charity organizations.

One of the best things in the above list is the pot-luck dinners.  you can bet that there will always be Pimento Cheese something, pecans of some sort, a bundt cake to die for, and friends.

This Pig Lickin’ cake is the sort of thing that would always make an appearance, someone will take a slice before dinner is completed, and none will be left by the end of the dinner.

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Is it called a Pig Lickin’ Cake or a Pig Pickin’ Cake?

You can make the Pig Pickin, or Mandarin Orange cake, as a layer cake or a sheet cake.  I have even made it as a bundt cake but that is definitely not as pretty. I love this cake, even though it gets a little messy with the frosting, but wanted to class it up a bit.  

Going into the Spring and Summer, there will be a ton of bridal and baby showers where people want to eat small portions.  You can’t do a small portion of a Mandarin Orange cake when the whole thing is staring at you.

Never fear because, with all the flavors packed into a dainty dessert shooter, you can feel good about eating your cake and still looking like a Southern Lady!  Calling them Pig Pickin’ Shooters also doesn’t scream dainty to me either so I am calling them Orange Sunrise Shooters.

With the daylight savings time change still fresh in my memory, I am enjoying seeing beautiful sunrises each morning while I am dragging my kids out of bed.  

The thought of getting to eat these Orange Sunrise Shooters later in the day certainly makes all the dragging, yelling, and wrestling worth it!

What do you need to make my Orange Sunrise Shooters or Pig Pickin’ Shooters?

1. a box yellow or white cake mix.
2. all the ingredients to make the cake like eggs, oil, and water.
3. A tub of frozen whipped topping.
4. A box of instant pudding.
5. Canned crushed pineapple.
6. Mandarin Oranges in the can.

These Orange Sunrise Shooters are the perfect way to serve a Pig Pickin’ Cake in my opinion.  If you like serving dessert shooters, check out my Creamy Coconut Caramel Shooters, and my Coconut Key Lime Cheesecake Jars.  Can you tell I like coconut a bit?

Tip: If you are not big drinkers or you don’t have a ton of shot glasses lying around like I do, you can run to the local dollar store and stock up on candle votives.  I purchased these for tea lights and they were 2 for $1.00.  The store is cleaned out of votive holders by the way.  Too bad I can never find my stash of tea lights…

Summer is the perfect time to make my Orange Sunrise Shooters and forget serving the whole Pig Pickin’ Cake if you don’t want to!

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