Mr. Food Test Kitchen: December 14: "Jingle Bell Torte"

With Christmas right around the corner, that means we're getting down to some last-minute cooking and baking... Well, we came up with an easy idea for a show-stopping holiday dessert that will rival the finest pastries you can find at any bakery... Just watch. We prepare any brand of chocolate cake mix according to the package direction... but here's the Test Kitchen secret: to make it extra special... we add a bit of maraschino cherry juice to the batter. Pour that into two 8" round baking pans and we'll just bake 'em off - Meanwhile, in a large bowl, we beat together a package of cream cheese with some powdered sugar till it's smooth, we'll fold in a container of whipped topping, along with some chopped pecans and... get this... some red and green maraschino cherries that we chopped up. It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas...isn't it? And once our cakes have cooled, we cut each one in half horizontally, and layer them with our filling. On goes another layer of the cake, then more of the filling and repeat it ending with more filling on top! And there ya' have it! A multi-layered, colorful holiday show-stopper! Especially when you drizzle it with some melted chocolate chips, sprinkle on more pecans and top each slice off with another maraschino cherry... Wow! It's gonna put everyone in the spirit of the season! Look, the recipe for "Jingle Bell Torte" is now online... as our gift to you... For some extra sparkle to brighten up your holiday table with lots more ... with lots more of... as Mr. Food would say ... "OOH IT'S SO GOOD!!"

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