GOD'S CAKE

The day before Christmas my daughter was baking an apple cake as she chatted with 4 1/2-year old Sweet Stuff. She was telling Sweet Stuff about the real meaning of Christmas and how it isn't just about Santa Claus and giving and receiving gifts. It is Jesus' birthday. Sweet Stuff immediately made a connection - the cake my daughter was making was obviously Jesus' birthday cake. Realizing how well that fit in with what she'd been talking about, Larisa agreed - of course the cake was Jesus' birthday cake. That's when Sweet Stuff carried the conversation to a new level.

"Jesus was at Megan's birthday party the other day, and he told me he liked orange sprinkles. So we need to put orange sprinkles on his birthday cake," she said matter-of-factly.

My daughter looked at Sweet Stuff. "Jesus was at Megan's birthday party?"

"Yes, and he told me he wanted orange sprinkles on his birthday cake."

Not one to question a child's chat with Jesus, my daughter complied. So orange sprinkles were scattered across the cream cheese frosting. The next morning, my daughter decided to have a slice of apple cake for breakfast.

Sweet Stuff came into the kitchen. Shocked, she asked, "ARE YOU EATING GOD'S CAKE?"

"Yes," my daughter replied, hastening to explain, "It's all right with God." That satisfied Sweet Stuff, and the issue was resolved.

Now our family recipe for apple cake with cream cheese frosting has a new name. It is simply "God's Cake."

GOD'S CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup nuts, chopped finely
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups apples, peeled and chopped finely

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans. Combine sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla. Beat well. Add mixture of flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the apples and nuts. Pour in cake pans and bake for 30 minutes. You can also make the cake in a bundt pan and bake for an hour. However, the icing is what makes it so good, and the icing covers less cake if you use a bundt pan.

CREAM CHEESE ICING FOR GOD'S CAKE
8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 cup finely chopped nuts
2 tsp. vanilla
1 pound box powdered sugar
orange sprinkles

Let cream cheese and butter soften. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar a little at a time and mix well. Add nuts. When cake is cool, ice each layer and stack. Scatter orange sprinkles over the top. Yummy!

If you happen to use the recipe, let me know how it turns out - and I hope you enjoy God's Cake!