Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Liberally a 9x 13? cake pan with vegetable shortening, and/or spray with baking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl. Add in eggs, vodka, and orange juice, beating until smooth. Carefully add melted butter, vanilla, and orange zest to the mix, mixing on medium speed until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake until golden and knife inserted into center of batter comes out clean – about 45 minutes. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before turning cake out onto baking rack to cool fully. Ideally, allow to cool to room temperature, wrap tightly with plastic wrap.

Allow cake to sit overnight, assemble trifle the following day.

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan, heat until sugar dissolves. Set aside. (Alternatively: Substitute ¼ cup reserved water/syrup from the canned mandarin orange slices for the plain water.)

Whisk together pudding mix, milk, melon liqueur, and food coloring – if desired. Allow to set up slightly before assembling trifle.

Cut cake into 1- 1.5″ cubes.

Cut melons in half, scoop out and discard seeds. Slice, remove rind, and chop into bite sized pieces. (You can use a melon baller if you want to get fancy with it!)

In a large trifle-type bowl, arrange ⅓ of the cake cubes (or whatever percentage it takes to get a good solid layer down) on the bottom. Drizzle with Melon soak, spoon ⅓ of the pudding mixture evenly over top. Arrange orange segments and melon pieces on top of pudding layer.

Repeat twice with remaining cake, pudding, and fruit. Serve immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.