Cherry Cocnut Pound Cake

Ingredients for Cake -

2 c AP Flour
3 teas Baking Powder
1/2 teas Salt
3/4 c Butter (soft)
1/4 c Oil
1 (8oz) Pkg Cream Cheese - soft
1 1/2 c white sugar
4 eggs - room temp
1 teas Vanilla Ext
1 teas Almond Ext
1 c Coconut
2 c Maraschino Cherries, halved - drained, save juice
1/4 c AP Flour

Directions -

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Mix and sift together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

2 - In a large bowl cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar until very light and fluffy (about 5 mins). Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in the oil, and extracts. Stir in the coconut (or this can be left out) Beat in flour mixture until just incorporated. Dredge cherries in the 1/4 flour, then fold into the batter. Spread into the prepared pan.

3 - Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 or so mins - or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for at least 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4 - After the cake is cooled you can dust with icing sugar or glaze it. I glazed mine making a glaze out of 2 Tlb of soft butter, 3 or so cups of icing sugar mixed together - the add by the teaspoon the reserved cherry juice until it gets to the consistency you desire. I added almost 6 or so teaspoons of juice. Glaze the cake.

This is a very soft cake and not as dense as many pound cakes. To make the cake pink just add some of the juice to the batter.