Cherry Christmas Cake

Step 1

In medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cornstarch. Place over medium heat, whisking constantly. As soon as it starts to thicken, add 4 cups frozen cherries and cook until lightly boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool.

Step 2

Line bottom of 9" cake pan or springform pan with parchment paper (do not butter pan). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk, beat 3 eggs for 1 min on high speed until foamy. With mixer on, gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat 7 to 8 min on high speed or until a thick ribbon forms when you lift up the batter (if using electric hand mixer, add 2 min to mixing time).

Step 3

Whisk together 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 tsp baking powder then sift them in two increments, folding gently into egg mixture with spatula. Fold just until flour is incorporated without streaks of flour, scraping from bottom of bowl to catch any pockets of flour.

Step 4

Transfer batter to pan and bake at 350˚F for 25 min. Cool 5 min then run thin spatula around the edges to loosen from pan, transfer to wire rack, peel back parchment paper and cool cake to room temperature.

Step 5

Beat cold heavy cream until whipped and spreadable (approx 2 min) - transfer to medium bowl. In same stand mixer (no need to wash it), beat 6 oz softened cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy and whipped (2 minutes on high speed). Use spatula to fold in whipped cream until well blended. Reserve 1/4 cup cream and tint with green food coloring then transfer it to a small piping bag fitted with Wilton 67 frosting tip to make leaves on top later.

Step 6

Place cooled cake on serving platter and poke all over the top with fork. Top with cooled cherries and let rest 5 min for the cake to absorb some syrup. Spread frosting over the top, top with grated chocolate. Pipe holly leaves and top with maraschino cherries.