🐖 The Cake That Came After the Pig

by Alisha Madeline | Grief to Gratitude Chef

A sweet slice of memory, legacy, and summer joy

Jump to Recipe

Some recipes are sacred not because of what’s in them—but because of who they remind you of.

For me, that recipe is Pig Pickin’ Cake.

A citrusy, cool, mandarin orange-speckled slice of joy that always came after the pig.Always.

🏡 Summer in Grandma’s Backyard

In northeastern North Carolina, summer didn’t truly arrive until somebody started talking about a pig pickin’.

We’d gather in my Grandma Laura’s backyard, where the trees were full of fruit and the air buzzed with laughter and cousins running barefoot. Someone—always someone—would have a custom-built grill big enough to hold a whole hog. And someone else would stand guard over it for hours, tending to the roast like it was a newborn baby.

My granddaddy?He always knew the right old man to call—the one who would bring the finest game you ever tasted. Sometimes hog, sometimes deer. Whatever it was, it came with stories, and it came with pride.

While the meat roasted low and slow, the women talked, the men laughed, and my Grandma Aleize kept the kids busy churning homemade ice cream. Pork was the headliner, sure—but the real moment I waited for came later, after the plates were cleared and the sun dipped just a little lower in the sky.

That’s when Mama’s Pig Pickin’ Cake came out.

🍰 Light. Cold. Golden. Perfect.

She made it just right every time—soft yellow cake folded with mandarin oranges, topped with whipped cream and crushed pineapple. It was served cold from the fridge, which made it even better on a hot day.

It was the cake. The grand finale.

After the heavy meal, after the meat sweats, after the second helping of coleslaw—it was this cake that made you close your eyes and hum with every bite. Sweet, but not too sweet. Tender. Nostalgic.

And now?Baking that cake brings me back.

Back to Grandma Laura’s yard.Back to the hum of summer.Back to the hands that fed me with more than food.

👑 The Woman Behind the Cake

My mother, Robin, is the matriarch of our family—the unshakable force who made sure we were always fed, seen, and safe.

She’s bold, independent, and tough as cast iron. The kind of woman who leads without needing applause and gives without asking for a thing.

Her Pig Pickin’ Cake wasn’t just dessert—it was her way of loving us. Feeding us. Reminding us that even after long days and hard work, there is joy. There is sweetness. There is still room to delight in life.

I didn’t know it back then, but this cake was a kind of inheritance.A ritual.A recipe for remembering.

🧡 The Heart of Joy-Centered Culinary Healing

Grief and joy show up in the same stories. Sometimes on the same plate. And over time, I’ve learned that baking can be a bridge between what we’ve lost and what we still get to savor.

Pig Pickin’ Cake taught me that.It reminded me that the things we carry—grief, love, legacy—can rise again when we bake them into something new.

So now, I bake it not just to remember the past, but to bring it forward.To let it feed others.To let it feed me.

✨ Want to Bake It Too?

Here’s my version of Mama Robin’s legendary Pig Pickin’ Cake. It’s light, forgiving, and perfect for porch-sitting, memory-sharing, and joy-soaking.

📖 Keep scrolling to find the recipe below.

Whether you bake this cake or just carry the story in your heart, I hope it reminds you:

🍊 Joy is seasonal, but it returns.🍊 Memory is nourishment.🍊 There’s always something sweet after the heavy parts.

Even now, I still believe in the magic of the cake that came after the pig.

🥣 Pig Pickin’ Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow or butter cake mix

• 1 can mandarin oranges

• ½ cup vegetable oil

• 4 large eggs

Frosting

• 8 oz Cool Whip (very important!)

• 1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix

• 1 large can crushed pineapple

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease & flour 2–4 cake pans.

2. Mix cake mix, eggs, oil, and the entire can of mandarin oranges with juice until smooth.

3. Divide batter into pans and bake for 20–25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

4. Make frosting by combining Cool Whip, instant pudding mix, and crushed pineapple

5. Frost between layers and the top. Chill before serving.

💡 Optional

Consider adding fresh coconut flakes to the frosting for a yummy flavor.