1. Prepare and Bake the Cake:

• Preheat your oven according to the temperature specified on the vanilla cake mix box.
• Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.
• Prepare the cake batter according to the package instructions, using the ingredients (eggs, oil, water/milk – recipe suggests substituting milk/vanilla almondmilk for water) listed on the box. Stir the 1 tablespoon of orange zest into the prepared batter.
• Pour the batter into the greased and floured 9×13 inch pan and spread evenly.
• Bake according to the package directions, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for approximately 10 minutes. Then, let it continue to cool completely in the pan (or remove to rack if preferred, but it’s often easier to poke/fill in the pan).  

2. Prepare Jell-O Soak and Poke Cake:

• Once the cake has cooled significantly (can still be slightly warm, but not hot), use a skewer or the round handle of a thin wooden spoon to poke rows of holes all over the top surface of the cake, about an inch apart.
• In a medium heatproof bowl, add the orange JELL-O mix powder. Carefully pour the 1 ¼ cup of boiling water over the JELL-O. Whisk until the JELL-O powder has completely dissolved.
• Stir in the ⅓ cup of fresh squeezed orange juice.
• Carefully and slowly pour this warm JELL-O mixture evenly over the top of the poked cake, trying to get it into all the holes.

3. Chill the Cake (Jell-O Layer):

• Cover the pan with plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours, or preferably longer (even overnight), to allow the JELL-O to fully set and soak into the cake, making it incredibly moist.

4. Make the Mandarin Orange Frosting:

• Ensure the frozen whipped topping is fully thawed in the refrigerator.
• In a medium bowl, combine the entire can of undrained mandarin oranges (fruit and syrup) with the dry vanilla instant pudding mix.
• Beat with an electric hand mixer (or whisk vigorously) until the oranges break down slightly and the mixture is combined and starts to thicken. It might look a bit unusual at first.
• Gently fold the thawed whipped topping into the mandarin-pudding mixture using a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated and the frosting is light and fluffy.

5. Frost the Cake:

• Remove the chilled, Jell-O soaked cake from the refrigerator.
• Spread the prepared mandarin orange frosting evenly over the top of the cake.

6. Final Chill and Serve:

• Refrigerate the frosted cake for at least another 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set and chill properly.
• Slice the Orange Creamsicle Poke Cake into squares directly from the pan.
• Serve chilled. Garnish with fresh orange slices or extra mandarin segments if desired. Enjoy!