Christmas Baking
A couple of months ago, someone on a friend's flist suggested December be Christmas baking or sweet month. Here's my first contribution. I hope to put up a few more before the 24th.
I looked back just now to see when I originally posted a recipe for Cherry Cake, one of my family's staples Christmas morning for the last 10 plus years. It was back in December of 2007. It's hard to believe that the end of 2009 is drawing near and we are entering a new decade.
I made the first of two cherry cakes tonight. The cakes freeze well. So once I've nibbled on this cake to make sure it is worthy of my family, I'll pop the rest of it in the freezer until Christmas morning.
It's an easy recipe and very tasty, and, if you love the taste of almond flavouring don't be shy - throw in more than the one teaspoon the recipe calls for.
Holiday Cherry Cake
1 cup butter (or margarine)
1 pkg (250 g) cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond flavouring *
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 bottle maraschino cherries **
1/4 cup flour for the cherries***
Bake at 300 deg. F in tube pan for approximately 1 hour.
*if you like the taste of almond flavouring with cherries, add more teaspoons as desired
** Instead of cherries, you may use 1 1/2 cups gumdrops
*** mix the cherries with the 1/4 cup of flour in a separate bowl before mixing them into the batter
Sorry, I didn't look up the European conversions.
Bake and enjoy!