I have made this cake and taken to the office and had one of our clients (never met him before) come up to me and tell me that it is the best cake he has ever had. The only thing that I honestly think needs tinkering with is the icing. I only used half of the canned icing and more cool whip, but I bet someone out there can come up with a better icing.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 (16 ounce) can prepared vanilla frosting
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch pans. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, walnuts and butter. Divide mixture evenly between the prepared pans. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, water, orange juice and oil until blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the orange zest. Pour the mixture evenly over the crunch layer in the pans.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. Frost (crunch side up) between layers, on top and sides. Arrange orange sections on top, then refrigerate.
4. To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, beat the vanilla frosting until light and fluffy, then mix in the whipped topping. Stir in the orange and lemon zest. Use frosting on completely cooled cake layers.
Orange Crunch Cake
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 (16 ounce) can prepared vanilla frosting
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch pans. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, walnuts and butter. Divide mixture evenly between the prepared pans. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, water, orange juice and oil until blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the orange zest. Pour the mixture evenly over the crunch layer in the pans.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. Frost (crunch side up) between layers, on top and sides. Arrange orange sections on top, then refrigerate.
4. To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, beat the vanilla frosting until light and fluffy, then mix in the whipped topping. Stir in the orange and lemon zest. Use frosting on completely cooled cake layers.
Make it and let us know. To me the cake is a simple recipe, but have heard someone in office say that it is time consuming. Time consuming? I doubt the lady has seen a recipe by Emeril yet. 
