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Holiday Gift Cake Recipe

Holiday Gift Cake Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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More than 25 years ago, to remind my two young children of the real meaning of the season, I decided our Christmas dinner should include a birthday cake. This rich lovely dessert has served that purpose ever since.

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Holiday Gift Cake Recipe

Prep: 25 min. Bake: 1 hour 20 min.

Yield: 12 Servings

25 80 105

Ingredients

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
2-1/4 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 jar (8 ounces) maraschino cherries, drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
GLAZE:
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Birthday candles, optional

Directions

In a bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add 2 cups to batter. Set aside five to six cherries for garnish. Chop the remaining cherries; add to remaining flour mixture with pecans. Fold into batter.
Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
For glaze, combine sugar and milk in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Decorate with reserved cherries and candles if desired. Yield: 12 servings.

Editor's Note: Green maraschino cherries may also be used for garnish.

Nutritional Facts 1 serving (1 slice) equals 533 calories, 27 g fat (14 g saturated fat), 133 mg cholesterol, 283 mg sodium, 69 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 6 g protein.

Originally published as Holiday Gift Cake in Country Woman Christmas Annual 1998, p29

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Holiday Gift Cake

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Reviewed on May. 31, 2012 by diankas

I would make this cake again in a heart beat.

I have been making it for at least 39 years and always used Philly cream cheese, well I decided to use a off brand for the cake the last time I made it and in didn't work it rose and then fell and looked like it wasn't cooked but it was. Off brands have stabilizers and I guess that was the problem. Oh forgot to say I used the off brand 2 x's same problem. This AM I made the cake with the Philly, it turn out prefect!

Reviewed on Dec. 17, 2010 by Sandy_Kay316

I also have made this cake for years. It is always requested for the holidays. The only thing I do differently is that I garnish the top of the cake (after I've drizzled the icing on) with well-drained marschino cherries and walnut halves, alternating the two.