Cherry-nut cake part of a family tradition

Sue Williams of Bel Air remembers the pink-colored Maraschino Cherry-Nut Cake that "my mother made for my birthdays in the 1940s and '50s. I have lost her old recipe and would so like to find a copy."

A response from the Donald Walton Jr. family of Rockville arrived with a recipe and explanation of its importance to the family. "This cake is a tradition in our family. Every Christmas morning my Mom made it and we called it Baby Jesus Birthday Cake and we sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles.

"Also my brothers and I especially remember getting care packages while stationed overseas in the military. It was like Christmas at home. I now continue the tradition with my mobile, military family."

Maraschino Cherry-Nut Cake

Serves 16

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup maraschino cherries, cut into quarters or eighths

1/4 cup cherry juice

1 cup walnuts or pecans whole maraschino cherries and walnut halves, for garnish

GLAZE:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons heavy cream or evaporated milk

1 tablespoon vanilla, white rum, orange juice or lemon juice

Combine the first 4 ingredients. Add eggs one at a time, blending well with each addition. Blend in vanilla, sour cream and flour. Add cut-up cherries, juice and nuts and stir to combine. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan. Bake for 1 hour in a preheated 375-degree oven. Cool on wire rack completely. Remove from tube pan and glaze.

To glaze, mix glaze ingredients and spread over cake. Place whole cherries and nuts on top of wet glaze, for garnish. Dry glaze completely before wrapping cake in plastic wrap.

Tester Laura Reiley's comments: "The cake itself is a pretty, pale pink, and the cross-section of a piece of cake is dotted with the bits of red cherry. It's every little girl's dream! It is a very sweet cake, so I suggest using the lemon juice on the glaze to create a bit of flavor contrast."

Recipe requests

Jessie L. V. Ahlfeldt of Annapolis is seeking a recipe for Ginger Pear Jam.

David Kolb, no address, is looking for a "New York-style Coconut Custard Pie. The best I ever had was from a bakery in either Island Park or Long Beach."

If you are looking for a recipe or can answer a request for a hard-to-find recipe, write to Ellen Hawks, Recipe Finder, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278. If you send more than one recipe, please put each on a separate sheet of paper with your name, address and daytime phone number. Important: Please list the ingredients in order of use, and note the number of servings each recipe makes. Please type or print. Letters may be edited.