Cooking Connection is a Journal-World feature that prints favorite reader recipes. This week’s featured cook is Harriet House, of Lawrence, with her recipe for German Christmas cake:

Why it’s special: “My heritage is German, and I serve this German Christmas cake at the holidays. I’ve been making it for about 25 years. It was always a request of my husband and some of my friends.”

8-ounce package cream cheese

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour

1 cup candied fruit (green and red cherries, candied pineapple)

3/4 cups finely chopped pecans

Thoroughly blend softened cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Gradually add 2 cups of flour with baking powder. Combine 1/4 cup of cake flour with candied fruit and the nuts. Fold into

batter.

Grease generously a 10-inch bundt pan and flour lightly. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325 degrees and remove from pan.

After cake cools, glaze with 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons light cream and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Garnish with candied fruit.