tom cruise christmas gift cake

We Tried The Viral Tom Cruise Cake — Here Are Our Thoughts

How can we get on his Christmas gift list?

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There are many perks to being a Hollywood celebrity: fame, fortune, and most importantly, a Christmas gift from Tom Cruise . At the beginning of every holiday season, Cruise is known to send many of his friends and co-stars a white chocolate coconut bundt cake from Doan's Bakery in Woodland Hills, California.

For the past decade, Tom Cruise has bought hundreds of these cakes, wrapped them in festive packaging, and sent them all over to spread holiday cheer. He even ships the cakes via his private jet to friends living outside the U.S.

The lineup of stars who are gifted a Cruise Cake includes Jimmy Fallon, Angela Bassett, John Hamm, and Kirsten Dunst. Dunst even said in a 2016 interview with Graham Norton (who also receives it every year) that it's one of the best cakes she's ever had. If you want to see more people who are sent one, PEOPLE published this list of celebrities who have publicly spoken about receiving the Tom Cruise cake.

Karen Doan first created the cake when she opened Doan's Bakery in 1984. The family-owned and -operated bakery describes the Cruise Cake as a coconut bundt cake with chunks of white chocolate , covered in a layer of cream cheese frosting and a mountain of shredded coconut .

While Cruise has certainly made the cake famous, he wasn't the first actor to fall in love with it. One of its first celebrity fans was Diane Keaton , who introduced the cake to Cruise when she was filming the 2008 movie Mad Money with his then-wife Katie Holmes.

Team Delish may not be famous actors (yet), but we wanted to see what all the hype was about, so we had a Cruise Cake sent to office.

The verdict? Jimmy Fallon wasn't kidding when he called the cake " unbelievable ." The cake was incredibly moist while still light and fluffy. The rich, creamy frosting was just sweet enough. We found the coconut flavor to be pretty mild, which was a relief to some of the coconut-skeptics on the team.

For us, the best thing about the cake were the chunks of white chocolate mixed into the batter. They added a nice crunch to an otherwise soft cake. In the words of one of our editors, "This cake makes me want to jump on a couch."

The cake was a huge hit with Team Delish. If you want to try it for yourself, you can order one from Goldbelly straight to your door.

Expertise: TikTok Trends, Drinks, Pop Culture

Education: B.A. in Journalism and B.S. in Communications from NYU, Culinary Arts degree from The Institute of Culinary Education

About Me: As an associate editor at Delish, Gabby works on everything from features to recipes to content on our social media channels. Before joining the team, she wrote for StarChefs Rising Stars Magazine, Mashed, and Food52. When she’s not developing cocktail recipes, she’s making cocktail-inspired dishes like Dirty Martini Pasta and Aperol Spritz Trifle . Her features cover online trends like the Millennial Shopping Cart , rank everything from hard seltzers to frozen French fries , and answer some of your most pressing food safety questions. You can also find her posting content on Delish’s TikTok, including her three-part series about cooking like influencer Nara Smith that garnered over 3M combined views.  She loves eating spicy food, collecting cookbooks, and adding a mountain of Parmesan to any dish she can. 

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We Made the Tom Cruise Coconut Cake and It's Our Final Meal Request, Too

Can't get your hands on the viral cake? That's why we created a copycat version!

Unfortunately, I was not on Tom Cruise's holiday gifting list this year. So, unless I want to fork over $110 for delivery or drive to Doan's Bakery in California, I can't experience the now-infamous, Tom Hanks-loved White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake.

If you're confused about why two of Hollywood's most beloved Toms are talking about a cake, here's the lowdown. Every year, Cruise gifts his closest friends the same White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake for the holidays. And, by the way, his friends are some of the best of the best in Hollywood, including Angela Bassett, Jimmy Fallon , Cobie Smulders, and, of course, Tom Hanks.

On a recent episode of Mythical Kitchen's series, "Last Meals," Hanks gushed about the "Tom Cruise Cake," naming it as one of the final foods he'd like to eat. "This cake is so great, you can really only have it once a year. This is just off-the-scale fantastic," Hanks raved.

If it's so good that Tom Hanks wants to eat it at his last meal on Earth, it has to be pretty darn good, right?!

The Woodland Hills-based bakery behind the Bundt cake sells it on Goldbelly year round. However, after Hanks sang the praises of this celeb-loved cake, it sold out pretty quickly. You can still order it, it just won't be delivered to you for about two months.

After hearing Hanks describe the decadent cake, I knew I needed to try it immediately, and that I couldn't wait for a March delivery. So, I did what any sweet tooth does, and tried to make it myself.

How To Make the Tom Cruise Coconut Cake

The Copycat Tom Cruise Cake features a sour cream pound cake base, flavored with coconut and vanilla extracts, and packed with coconut flakes and white chocolate chips. The cake is finished off with cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut flakes.

As with most pound cakes, this cake is almost too easy to make. The trickiest part is just ensuring you grease the Bundt pan enough so that the baked cake slides out easily. However, even if you're missing a chunk of your cake, I'm a firm believer that you can fix everything with frosting—and who wouldn't want extra cream cheese frosting, anyway?

Get the recipe : Coconut Bundt Cake

We Tried the Tom Cruise Cake

I know that Hanks has very strong opinions about food—yes, I am talking about his Diet Cokagne cocktail —but I wasn't sure if he was exaggerating just how good this cake is. He explained that everyone at his production company starts checking the mail a little bit more around the holidays, anxiously awaiting the cake's arrival.

Hanks' family even has a nickname for the cake—"The Tom Coo Cay"—named as such because they always talk about how good it is with their mouths already full of cake.

Needless to say, my expectations were high and, boy, does this cake live up to them. The pound cake is moist and loaded with buttery, coconutty, white chocolatey flavor. You really can never go wrong with a cream cheese frosting, and the toasted coconut on the outside provides more depth of flavor than the coconut inside. Altogether, this cake is divine.

It is a pretty traditional pound cake, so it's dense—a little slice goes a long way. I definitely understand why Hanks says this is a once-a-year kind of cake. I think I'll be taking a page from some of the celebrity recipients' books and freezing half of the cake to enjoy later. That way I can enjoy my "Tom Coo Cay" for as long as possible.

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'Tom Cruise Cake' Breaks The Internet Every Christmas

The top gun star gifts this coconut cake to just about everyone at the holidays. here's how it tastes..

This time of year, especially if you live in Los Angeles, there are a few things you can count on when it comes to holiday cheer: Every palm tree will be covered in Christmas lights; you will see fake snow (called snoap ) falling from the sky at Disneyland and almost everywhere else you go; and your internet algorithm will change to focus on one food and one food only: The Tom Cruise cake.

The Tom Cruise Cake, explained

The A-list actor has made it a holiday gift tradition to send out this very specific cake to hundreds of friends and business associates each year, and so tales of the cake have spread far and wide. In a 2019 episode of The Tonight Show , Jimmy Fallon and Cobie Smulders compared notes about being on the official cake list. "Tom Cruise cake," Smulders said. "The most glorious time of the year."

"It's unbelievable," Fallon replied.

In 2016, Kirsten Dunst and Graham Norton had a similar conversation on his talk show—although Norton's cake, according to Delish , was reportedly delivered to the UK on Cruise's private jet, so it probably tasted fancier.

"We call it the Cruise Cake in my house," Dunst said. "It's the best coconut cake I've had in my life."

Even if there's no way to measure this statistic, I'm pretty sure no cake in the world has been more widely praised by more high-profile people than Doan's White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake. People magazine even keeps a running list of everyone who has spoken publicly about receiving one of these coveted confections.

How does the Tom Cruise cake taste?

The cake in question is a coconut Bundt studded with white chocolate pieces. Once baked, it's covered with mounds of cream cheese frosting and roughly a blizzard's worth of sweetened shredded coconut. The result is very sweet, but it's worth the sugar rush. It's a moist, dense cake, and the chunks of white chocolate take on two textures: the ones inside are melty, and the ones that make their way to the exterior are caramelized and chewy, a nice textural counterpart.

In effect, the cake tastes just like your mom made it, if your mom were an incredibly talented home baker who then turned her talent into a business. (My mom actually did this, so I know what I'm talking about here.)

That's exactly what happened with Karen Doan, too. She started her baking business in Woodland Hills, on the upper edge of the San Fernando Valley, when current co-owner Eric Doan was just a kid, and she opened the storefront in 1983. Now, her son Eric and his wife Carrie Doan run the shop, which doesn't shy away from its Hollywood fame. On the day I went to pick up my order, there was a sign out front: "Life is better with a sprinkle of coconut!"

"Most of these recipes were my mom's and grandma's," Eric told The Takeout. Over time, the legend of Doan's has grown and grown. "It was more than a decade ago that Tom Cruise's association began," he said, "but I think it was more Katie Holmes and Diane Keaton." Keaton, a longtime fan of the cake, gifted one to her co-star Holmes while they were filming Mad Money in 2008 .

The White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake is available all year long at Doan's, but in November and December, the bakery makes several hundred a week, according to Eric. "It's a crazy time keeping up right now," he said. In addition to Cruise's orders, other production companies order them in bulk, and the cake is also available on Goldbelly for those of us not on the A-list.

Demand has grown so high that next year, Eric said, he's going to have to expand the bakery's operations. "The demand is so much higher than what I can produce," he said. "It's cool though, all the family is pitching in."

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Tom Hanks Is Deeply In Love With The 'Tom Cruise Cake' He's Gifted Each Year

The actor described it as 'off the scale fantastic.' 🍰

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We're still getting over how insanely delicious the "Tom Cruise Cake" is, but there's one actor who's so head over heels with the cake they've proclaimed that they would eat it as their last meal. That actor is Tom Hanks , and he noshed on the cake, as well as a handful of other dishes while appearing on Mythical Kitchen's Last Meals YouTube series.

After eating his way through challah bread French toast , an In-N-Out Double Double, a Greek salad with calamari, and other last meal picks, Hanks announced the "Tom Cruise Cake" as his dessert pick.

"Look at it. Would you look at it," said Hanks as he channeled his inner Corn Kid . "Isn't it gorgeous? This cake is so great you can really only have it once a year which works out perfectly because I don't order it, it arrives as a gift at Christmas. Now I'm gonna drop a name now and I don't want you to go berserk. But this is a big name. Not everybody gets this white chocolate coconut bundt cake. This is a Christmas gift that we get every year from Tom Cruise."

Despite the decadent cake being dubbed the "Tom Cruise Cake," the Top Gun: Maverick star isn't actually spending hours in his kitchen baking the treat. The white chocolate coconut bundt cake comes courtesy of Doan's Bakery in Woodland Hills, California, and they've been making it for years.

And if you haven't yet made your way onto Cruise's holiday gift list, you can still purchase your very own "Tom Cruise Cake" any time of year via Goldbelly .

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Tom Cruise Sends This Cake to Celebrity Friends Every Year: Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Angela Bassett & More

James corden, kirsten dunst, cobie smulders, jimmy fallon, and rosie o'donnell have received this iconic cake from tom cruise..

We independently selected these products because we love them, and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a commission if you purchase something through our links. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. Prices are accurate as of publish time.

Tom Cruise is known for many things, like doing his own stunts and flying planes, but did you know about the Tom Cruise cake ? Well, technically, it's the White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake from Doan's Bakery in Woodland Hills, CA. However, it has reached legendary status thanks to Tom Cruise, who sends out these delicious cakes every year to his friends and colleagues including  Miles Telle r, Jon Hamm , Angela Bassett ,  James Corden , Kirsten Dunst , Cobie Smulders , Jimmy Fallon , and Rosie O'Donnell .

At the T op Gun: Maverick   premiere in May 2022, Jon Hamm  told Dish Nation 's Andrew Freund, "I was on the list pre- Maverick , so I'm very happy," when he was asked about making the Tom Cruise Cake List. Miles Teller gushed, "The coconut cake is very good. I have one in my fridge right now."

In a 2019 interview with Cobie Smulders, Jimmy Fallon explained, "Tom Cruise will send you a cake during the holidays. Cobie gushed, "I leave it in my freezer and it lasts until, like, March. Like, I just slowly chip away at this thing. It's so good. I don't know why. I'm not even a big sweets person, but it's so good."

"I love sugar, but I can't eat it when I'm training. So, I send it to everyone. I sent it to the stunt team." Tom told James Cordon and Angela Bassett in 2018. That Tom Cruise Cake list is definitely a sign that you've made it. Angela joked, "But, only I ate it," when Tom mentioned sending one to the actress and her husband  Courtney B. Vance,  who unfortunately didn't get a slice of the iconic dessert.

"He gives me this cake every Christmas. We call it the Cruise Cake. It's just this coconut cake. It's the best coconut cake I've ever had in my life," Kirsten Dunst raved on  The Graham Norton Show in 2016. Rosie O'Donnell dedicated a 2021 Instagram post to this holiday gift. 

You may not be on the Tom Cruise Cake List, yet, but you can order the legendary dessert from Goldbelly  in the meantime. 

Doan's Bakery White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

This coconut cake has chunks of sweet white chocolate, cream cheese frosting, and it's covered in toasted coconut flakes. This pillowy cake serves 12 to 16 people.

It ships frozen with dry ice. When it arrives, put it in your fridge or the freezer. The cake lasts 5 days in the refrigerator and up to 4 months in the freezer. If you want to enjoy the dessert right away, just remove the packaging and allow the cake to thaw at room temperature.

Celebrities aren't the only people raving about this iconic cake. Check out these rave reviews from Goldbelly shoppers. 

Doan's Bakery White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake Reviews

A shopper raved, "Got a 'Tom Cruise' cake from Doan's Bakery in CA. Cake arrived on time and was in perfect condition due to dry ice. Thawed and cake was perfect. Whole process: from ordering to eating was flawless. Thanks Goldbelly! From a happy customer."

Someone else shared, "The entire experience was awesome! Delivered on time. The cake was absolutely delicious and worth the wait and cost!"

A customer raved, "I loved every minute of my purchase..I ordered a fun cake for my easter weekend but I was invited to an engagement party and the groom-to-be loves coconut so I gave the cake away...it was a hit on Friday night...I sure wish I had a slice of it right now....I'm so proud of your services and your product choices..God bless your hearts and may all our bellies be happy too.....it was a joy to give away my cake for such a sweet night...I'm grateful and thankful."

A fan of the cake reviewed, "Everything. Astonishingly good, unexpectedly good. We got a cake from across the country and it arrived in perfect condition and was phenomenal. Costly but: Worth every dollar. Will be ordering more through the service."

"It was delivered on time. Wrapped very well. My daughter was thrilled with the cake. It is such a treat to order things from across the states and see what different businesses are famous for," a Goldbelly customer explained.

"Everything was on time & held up extremely well! And oh so delicious!!! Thanks for making one very happy family," a shopper reviewed.

If you're looking for more Tom Cruise-inspired shopping, you need to check out  this  Top Gun  style guide .

Tom Cruise’s famous $125 coconut cake has arrived — see Glen Powell’s special delivery and note

The famous cake is cruise-ing in. 

According to Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” co-star Glen Powell, Cruise’s famous cake has arrived for the 2023 holiday season. 

On Monday, Powell, 35, posted a photo in his Instagram Stories of a cake plate and silver slicer splattered with white crumbs and icing. Next to it, a typed note read, “To: Glen Powell. Warmest wishes to you this holiday season. Tom Cruise.” 

The annual cake from Cruise, 61, has become the stuff of legend in Hollywood.

The famous “Tom Cruise Cake” is a white chocolate-coconut Bundt cake from Doan’s Bakery in California that has a hefty price tag of $125. 

Created in 1984 by bakery founder Karen Doan, the cake has chunks of white chocolate, a layer of cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut flakes on top.

Cruise sends the cake to a shortlist of celebs.

Last year, during an appearance on “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” Powell revealed, “Tom Cruise has this amazing tradition every holiday. He sends the Tom Cruise Cake. The Cruise Cake is a very famous thing. If you’ve worked with Tom Cruise or done a Tom Cruise movie, you get the Cruise cake. Over the course of time, it’s turned into this global operation, where every Christmas, he’ll send out — it could be thousands.”

He went on to describe it as “the most delicious cake you’ve ever had. It’s a coconut Bundt cake. My friends that have tried it love it so much that they hit me up right around Dec. 1, like, ‘Hey, has it arrived yet?’ So now I’ll have a Cruise Cake party at my house, and I’ll invite people over to try a bite or two of the Cruise Cake. It’s a cake party, just the Cruise Cake.”

According to James Corden, Cruise himself has not tried the cake. 

“It’s unbelievable, I would say almost everybody he meets who works on ‘The Late Late Show’ gets one of these cakes. It’s like our head writers, Ian and Lauren, you know, different people that he’s met, he’s just so gracious and generous,” Corden said during a 2022 appearance on “Heart Breakfast.”

“But here’s the most amazing thing. He’s never tried it!” said Corden, swearing that this is true, “on my life!”

According to the Sun, Cruise arranged for 300 cakes to be shipped on a private jet from LA to London in 2021 to give to the “Mission: Impossible” cast and crew. 

Rosie O’Donnell has also posted about receiving the cake in the past, sharing a photo of the dessert and writing on Instagram , “My Tommy sent me a coconut cake!! I love that guy.”

Tom Hanks has also gushed about how the cake is a hit with his production company, Playtone.

“[Colleagues in Playtone] start eyeing: What mail has come in? Is the big box coming in? Are we getting, what has essentially been called, the Tom Cruise Cake?” Hanks said while on Mythical Kitchen’s YouTube series “ Last Meals .”

Other celebs who have spoken about getting the famous Cruise gift include Cary Elwes, Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, Elle and Dakota Fanning, Miles Teller and Cobie Smulders. 

“I’m on the list. I’m very proud to be on the list,” Jon Hamm told “ Dish Nation .” 

“He gives me a cake every Christmas,” Kirsten Dunst told Graham Norton during a 2016 appearance on his show . “We call it the Cruise Cake at my house. It’s the best coconut cake I’ve ever had in my life.”

Brooke Shields, however, used to be on the list — but has since been removed. 

“I was on the list for a while. I had a good 10-year run, and I got the coconut cake every year, which I was very happy [about],” Shields, 58, told People. 

Cruise criticized Shields in 2005 for taking antidepressants for postpartum depression after the birth of her first child, Rowan, now 19. In response, Shields wrote an op-ed in the New York Times . 

The feud apparently ended, as Shields was invited to his 2006 wedding to his now-ex-wife Katie Holmes. 

Shields said she wasn’t “exactly sure” why she got booted off the coveted list. “I want to get back on that cake list. It’s the best cake,” Shields told the outlet.

 She pleaded: “Tom, I need to be back on the cake list.”

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Every Star Who Has Spoken About Receiving the Tom Cruise Coconut Cake

From Kirsten Dunst to Angela Bassett to Graham Norton across the pond, here are the stars who have confirmed they're on the famed Tom Cruise Cake List

The true mark of "making it" in Hollywood isn't an Oscar or a billboard with your face on it — it's getting a coconut cake from Tom Cruise. See which A-listers have bragged about receiving one of the coveted coconut cakes (and which ones have mourned falling off the gift list).

Kirsten Dunst & Jesse Plemons

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Dunst has been on the list of recipients since working with Cruise in 1994's Interview with the Vampire.

"He gives me a cake every Christmas," Dunst told Graham Norton during a 2016 appearance on his show . "We call it the Cruise cake at my house. It's the best coconut cake I've ever had in my life."

In a 2024 interview with Entertainment Tonight , she shared that her household never has to worry about running out of the coveted cake, because husband Jesse Plemons has also costarred with Cruise (in 2017's American Made) and gets his own every Christmas now too.

"We double up on our cakes,” she shared, confirming that she's still on the list.

Glen Powell

John Salangsang/Variety via Getty Images

Someone who really celebrated his ascension to the Coconut Cake list was Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell, who hosts a party at his house when it arrives for grateful friends.

"It is the most delicious cake you've ever had," Powell told Jennifer Hudson on her talk show . "My friends who have tried it, they love it so much that they hit me up right around December 1. 'Hey, has it arrived yet?' So now I have a party at my house where I'll have the Cruise cake. It's my 'Cruise Cake Party.' And I'll invite people over to try a bite or two ... [they] can't get greedy. I really have to limit people. I can't let them come back for seconds." 

Angela Bassett

Amy Sussman/Getty

In a discussion with Raymond Lee and Kelly Clarkson on the latter's talk show , Angela Bassett and Lee agreed it's one of the best cakes they've ever had (he even joked that he had it dipped in resin to preserve it forever).

Bassett is such a fan that, she said, "at our 25th anniversary, [husband Courtney B. Vance and I] had a three-tiered TCCC [Tom Cruise Coconut Cake]."

Hayley Atwell

Christian Black

It was hardly a Mission: Impossible for Hayley Atwell to be added to Cruise's cake list. In 2023 she shared a shot of the beautifully wrapped cake with a card reading "warmest wishes to you this holiday season, Tom Cruise," which she declared "delicious" on her Instagram Stories.

Rosie O'Donnell

Rosie O'Donnell and Tom Cruise have been friends for 25 years now (she famously used to gush about him on her talk show) and the actress doesn't feel the holiday spirit until the delicious dessert shows up on her doorstep each year.

This past Christmas, O'Donnell proudly showed off the sweet delivery writing on Instagram , "My Tommy sent me a coconut cake!! I love that guy."

Cruise's cake is so renowned that his Top Gun costar, Jay Ellis flew it to Mexico last year.

"This year, my family, we all met in Mexico to spend Christmas together," Ellis said while on The Jennifer Hudson Show . "And I was away filming a movie, and I was like, 'Mom, can you freeze the cake and take it to Mexico?' My whole family was like, 'Yes, freeze the cake.'"

He continued, "Whatever it is — dry ice, ice cubes, whatever it is — we froze the cake," he said. "We took it to Mexico, thawed it out and we had it on Christmas Day."

(Assuming you don't get added to Cruise's list by Christmas, the Woodland Hills, Calif.-based bakery that makes the cake, Doan's, will ship you one in dry ice via their Goldbelly page .)

You want a Tom Cruise coconut cake? As you wish! ... is what we imagine Tom Cruise said to his Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning costar Elwes, who told PEOPLE the treat was his latest guilty pleasure . "We got sent a cake at Christmas from Tom Cruise . It was coconut from his favorite bakery," he recalled. "Normally I don't eat cake, but when it comes from Tom, it's mission impossible not to."

Also on the gift list? Tom Hanks , who described the cake as being "so great you can really only have it once a year."

Apparently, the cake is a huge hit at his production company , Playtone, where his colleagues wait with bated breath, for it to be delivered each year.

"They start eyeing: What mail has come in? Is the big box coming in? Are we getting, what has essentially been called the Tom Cruise cake?" he said while on Mythical Kitchen's YouTube series Last Meals .

And because the cake is such a treat, the company begins to savor each slice as the days go on. "Everybody starts slicing thinner and thinner slices," Hanks joked.

"It's a mathematical proof that if you just keep cutting everything in half, you will never run out of Tom Cruise cake."

Elle & Dakota Fanning

After getting a special shout out from the Mission Impossible actor during last year's Cannes Film Festival, Elle Fanning revealed Cruise has shown her and sister Dakota so much love over the years.

Cruise and Dakota starred in War of the Worlds together back in 2005.

Elle told PEOPLE that Cruise "made it a point to kind of stay in [Dakota's] life ... which was so kind."

She continued, "And he sends her a birthday gift every single year still. We get the coconut cake that he sends."

Though Jon Hamm starred in Top Gun: Maverick with Cruise, he was a receiver of the coconut bundt cake long before then.

"I'm on the list. I'm very proud to be on the list," Hamm told Dish Nation . "I was on the list pre- Maverick so I'm very happy. I predate the movie, so somehow I got on that list."

Miles Teller

Much like the team at Tom Hanks' production company, Miles Teller couldn't fathom the thought of finishing the cake in its entirety when he got it for his birthday.

"The coconut cake is very good," he admitted to Dish Nation during the Hollywood premiere of the Top Gun last year.

"I have one in my fridge right now he sent for my birthday in February. So what month are we in? May? I still have it, so that that let's you know how good it is."

Cobie Smulders

Also on the preservation train is Cobie Smulders, who freezes her holiday gift so it lasts for months.

"It's so good. I leave it in my freezer and it lasts until like March," she told Jimmy Fallon (who also bragged about being on "the list"). "I just slowly chip away at this thing. It's so good, I don't know why. I'm not even a big sweets person, but it's so good."

Graham Norton

This famous cake is so much of a hot item, sometimes it doesn't even get to its intended recipient, as Graham Norton found out.

While prepping for an episode in which Renée Zellweger appeared, Norton found out Cruise had sent the cake to his office for years — he just never received it.

"I didn't know we were on the Tom Cruise Cake List 'til today!" he told the Jerry Maguire actress, while asking her about her own receipt of the treat.

"I was talking about you being on the cake list and somebody said 'Oh, yeah, we get a cake from Tom every year,' and I went, 'Do we? I've never seen the bloody cake.'"

Turns out, it was "the nicest cake" someone in Norton's crew had ever had...and didn't last long enough to make it to the host himself!

Brooke Shields

Someone who received the cake for a while — and would like to again — is Brooke Shields.

"I was on the list for a while. I had a good 10-year run, and I got the coconut cake every year, which I was very happy [about]," she told PEOPLE recently, adding with a laugh, "I want to get back on that cake list. It's the best cake. Tom, I need to be back on the cake list!"

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Celebrities are obsessed with this cake Tom Cruise gifts famous friends each Christmas — so I tried it

The "Tom Cruise cake" is back — and I can say with certainty that it's delicious.

Rosie O'Donnell has said getting hers each year, from her old pal "Tommy," officially kicks off the Christmas season in her home. Well, fa la la la la la la la la because it arrived at Chez O'Donnell on Wednesday.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rosie O’Donnell (@rosie)

O'Donnell even fielded some questions about the delicacy — which gets whipped up at family-owned Doan's Bakery in Woodland Hills, Calif., and shipped all over the world to people on Cruise's nice list — telling Ross Matthew that it tastes "delish."

Celebrities — including Kirsten Dunst, Renée Zellweger, Angela Bassett, James Corden, Jimmy Fallon, Henry Cavill, Cobie Smulders and Graham Norton — love talking about being on Cruise's cake list and how " unbelievable " and " decadent " the baked good tastes. For this part, Cruise — who was introduced to the cake by then-wife Katie Holmes who learned about it from Diane Keaton ( it's a good story ) — said in 2018, "I send [cakes] to everyone... and I wait for the calls," from recipients who ring him to say how good it was. "I'm like: Tell me about it."

The constant chatter about the "Tom Cruise cake" led me to contact Eric Doan, who runs Doan's with his 79-year-old mother Karen, and he gave me the scoop on the celebrity-approved culinary concoction. It's a coconut bundt cake with chunks of sweet white chocolate, layers of cheese frosting and dusted with toasted coconut flakes, which Karen created and debuted in 1984 when she first opened her business.

It also led this writer, after doing a story on the cake and staring at photos of it for "research," to order one, via GoldBelly food shipping service, to try. I'm happy to report it's fully worth the hype — and the two-month wait to get it.

For $99, shipping included, the cake was sent frozen, packed with dry ice, from the bakery. I couldn't resist letting it thaw enough to cut a slice right away — as I had literally been waiting months to try it. It's a coconut dream come true — and this comes from someone who's not even a coconut superfan.

As the sole coconut cake eater in a small home, during a pandemic with nobody to share with, it was enjoyed in a meandering style. I stored it in the freezer, taking the tip from Cruise's Jack Reacher co-star Smulders, who upon receipt each year stores it below 32 degrees and then chips away at it slowly from December until March versus Cruise's Interview With the Vampire co-star Dunst, who said she digs into it right away with family and finishes it in one night. I'd cut a small piece here and there — a little goes a long way because it is very sweet! — as it keeps in the freezer for four months. (I actually kept it longer than the advised four months and it was still delicious.)

For the record, I was OK with not sharing it. Each time, I had a piece I'd ceremoniously take out the box, open it, untie the ribbon and let it defrost just enough to get a knife to slice through it. Then pack up the remainder of the cake quickly so I could keep my A-list private dessert party of one going for as long as I could.

The cake, shipped from the gourmet food delivery service, is 10-inches and serves 12 to 16. I'd even say 20 because a small slice satiates. It's also important to note that if Tom Cruise isn't sending you the cake, the box doesn't come decorated all fancy like O'Donnell's with the bow and reindeer ornament. Baker Eric previously explained to Yahoo that Cruise has his Odin Productions company staffers pick up the finished cakes and they take them elsewhere to be dressed up. Odin then handles delivering them to those on Cruise's star-studded holiday list privately.

If you are in L.A. and go to Doan's, the bakery sells smaller sizes. Plus, the 10-inch cake costs $50 in the bakery versus $99 with Goldbelly's markup. Just note, at Doan's you won't see the "Tom Cruise cake" anywhere on the menu. While it's taken on that nickname because so many celebrities have hyped it, the business doesn't advertise it that way. It's simply the White Chocolate Coconut Cake — one of 30 some cakes on the menu.

Besides, they are familiar with celebrity clientele. Sweets lover Sofia Vergara is also a fan of the coconut cake (this photo says it all) and the bakery, in general, has other famous patrons, like Jennifer Lopez, who ordered custom cakes there for the birthday of twins Max and Emme.

Cruise buys a few hundred of the cakes over the holidays but also orders them during the year. The star once sent one to Corden the morning the comedian hosted the Grammys. Corden quipped that he barely fit in his suit by that night. Owner Eric has credited Cruise for helping "keep us in business ," especially during the pandemic.

After doing my story on the cakes last year, I wasn't the only one unable to resist buying one. For a few months after my story ran, people messaged me to report that they visited Doan's to get one in person or also ordered it online. "I got the Cruise cake!!!!" they reported — with so many exclamation points I imagined them jumping up and down on their couch with cake box in hand.

Or maybe that's just how I felt when my own delivery finally arrived and I had my first bite.

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Tom Cruise is sending out hundreds of Christmas cakes as presents

It is now an annual tradition for stars to receive the actor's favourite coconut cake every Christmas

A range of stars across the entertainment world are all receiving a special Christmas gift from Tom Cruise : a $125 coconut cake.

• READ MORE: ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ review: staggering stunts can’t make up for the nonsensical plot

In what has now become an annual tradition, the Mission: Impossible star sends hundreds of the same bakery item to friends and colleagues, with a personalised hand-written note, over the festive season.

The white coconut bundt cake is only made by Doan’s Bakery in Los Angeles and in past years, stars who have been lucky enough to receive one have included Tom Hanks , Kirsten Dunst and Jimmy Fallon.

According to reports, Cruise first came across the cake in 2008 when his then-wife Katie Holmes was recommended it from her co-star Diane Keaton. SFGate report that come the holiday season, the bakery in question actually hires a member of staff specifically to handle the orders.

Check out some of the lucky recipients so far this Christmas below:

This year's Cruise cake has arrived, looking more scrumptious than ever. Thank you @TomCruise ! pic.twitter.com/xXv4z5Gf9r — Total Film (@totalfilm) December 5, 2023

A glorious day, as the mythical Tom Cruise cake – aka Top Bun, aka Caketail, aka The Crumby – arrives at Empire Towers. Thanks, Tom! 🍰 pic.twitter.com/cgj4Fude2M — Nick de Semlyen (@NickdeSemlyen) December 7, 2023

I’m a grinch at Christmas until the Cruise Cake appears. Thanks for the highlight of the season ⁦ @TomCruise ⁩ pic.twitter.com/QFNtWm3Dd2 — Jane Crowther (@janevgcrowther) December 6, 2023

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In other Cruise news, in November, he personally stepped in to support his agent, after she was relieved of her duties following pro-Palestinian social media posts.

She had made a number of posts on Instagram, including one that read: “What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening.”

Cruise took “the rare step of going in person” to her office to show his support for her, and he made it known to CAA that he was backing her. It is reported that a group of other CAA assistants threatened to walk out over the agency’s treatment of Dakhil.

Elsewhere, Timothée Chalamet has revealed the “inspiring” advice he received from Cruise .

“After I met Tom Cruise, right after finishing the first  Dune , he sent me the most wonderfully inspiring email,” Chalamet said.

Chalamet added: “He basically said, in Old Hollywood, you would be getting dance training and fight training, and nobody is going to hold you to that standard today. So it’s up to you. The email was really like a war cry.”

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LA bakery behind 'amazing' $50 cake that Tom Cruise sends to A-list friends for Christmas every year says his orders have 'kept us in business' - and enabled them to survive the pandemic

• Every Christmas, Cruise, 58, gifts friends, other stars, and executives a White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake from Doan's Bakery
• The $50 cake was created in 1984 by bakery founder Karen Doan, 78, who runs the shop with her son Eric
• Eric said Cruise's order is 'honestly is one of the things that kept us alive' during the pandemic, adding: 'There were years they kept us in business'
• Stars on Cruise's gift list include Henry Cavill, Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara Walters, Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, and Angela Bassett
• Kirsten Dunst said 'it's the best coconut cake I've ever had in my life,' while Cobie Smulders called the time it comes 'the most glorious time of the year'

By Carly Stern For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:50 EDT, 17 December 2020 | Updated: 12:25 EDT, 17 December 2020

View comments

One of the hottest lists to be on in Hollywood is Tom Cruise's gift list: Every Christmas , the Scientologist and Mission Impossible star gifts friends, other stars, and executives a coveted cake from a California bakery.

Affectionately referred to as the 'Tom Cruise cake' by many of the stars who've snagged one, the White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake from Doan's Bakery, in Woodland Hills, California, has been described as 'amazing' and 'unbelievable.'

And in the midst of the pandemic, Doan's Bakery's owners credit Cruise's huge repeat order for being one of the big reasons they've stayed in business. 

Yum! Every Christmas, Tom Cruise gifts friends, other stars, and executives a coveted cake from a California bakery

Classic: The cake was created in 1984 by bakery founder Karen Doan, 78, who runs the shop with her son Eric

Tasty: It's made with 'a ring of moist, luxurious coconut bundt cake,' 'chunks of sweet white chocolate,' a layer of cream cheese frosting, and toasted coconut flakes on top

The cake, which is available on Goldbelly for $99 and at the bakery's Woodland Hills location for $50, was created in 1984 by bakery founder Karen Doan, 78, who runs the shop with her son Eric. 

It's made with 'a ring of moist, luxurious coconut bundt cake,' 'chunks of sweet white chocolate,' a layer of cream cheese frosting, and toasted coconut flakes on top.  

It's one of several sweets the bakery sells — but it's the one that Cruise and his Odin Productions company send out every year.

In the past, Cruise's gift recipients have included Kirsten Dunst, Henry Cavill, Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara Walters, Cobie Smulders, Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, and Angela Bassett.

And in a year when food industry business have been suffering, the Doans are grateful to Cruise for being so loyal. 

'This year has been a really rough ride,' Eric Doan told Yahoo . 'In March and April, we wondered if we were even going to be able to stay open.

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Bakers: In the midst of the pandemic, Doan's Bakery's owners credit Cruise's huge repeat order for being one of the big reasons they've stayed in business

Thrilled: This year, Rosie O'Donnell showed off her gift box from Cruise on Instagram

Pleased: Cruise's Mission: Impossible - Fallout costar Henry Cavill called it 'the most decadent, the most amazing, the most surprising cake, to receive from someone like Tom Cruise'

'Now, I’m spun like a top,' he said of the holiday season, adding that Cruise's order is 'honestly is one of the things that kept us alive' during the pandemic.

'There were years they kept us in business,' he added. 

It's unknown how many cakes Cruise sends out each year, but several stars have spoken out about getting one.

Most recently, Rosie O'Donnell shared the gift she received, a brown cardboard box with a beautiful gold bow, a reindeer ornament, and a gift tag: 'Warmest wishes to you this Holiday Season.'

'Christmas is here when Tommy’s gift shows up,' Rosie captioned the image on Instagram.

Kirsten Dunst, who starred with Cruise in 1994's Interview with a Vampire, told Graham Norton that the actor still 'gives me a cake every Christmas — we call it the Cruise Cake at my house.'

Lucky! Not all of Cruise's recipients are famous; he also sends cakes to producers, journalists, and executives

Special: A few recipients have shown off the cake on Instagram. Cruise's production company raps them with ribbon and adds a reindeer ornament

Fan: Cobie Smulders, who starred with Cruise in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, discussed the 'Tom Cruise deliciousness,' calling the time it comes 'the most glorious time of the year.'

'It's the best coconut cake I've ever had in my life,' she said. 'It's really good and we get it every Christmas. All our family is like, "Cruise Cake's here!" It's like a major thing, we all devour it that night.'

Meanwhile, Henry Cavill — who acted with Cruise in 2018's Mission: Impossible - Fallout — gushed about it to Access Hollywood.

'I received this cake at Christmas time saying, "Dear Henry, Happy Christmas, from Tom Cruise." Which is an insane little thing to read,' he said.

'So I get the cake and I think it's a sort of super healthy coconut — the kind of thing that doesn't taste amazing. Nothing treat-like, and so I left it. I just left it in the fride,' he went on.

But when he finally tried it, it was 'the most decadent, the most amazing, the most surprising cake, to receive from someone like Tom Cruise. I loved it. Smashed it.'

And Cobie Smulders, who starred with Cruise in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, discussed the 'Tom Cruise deliciousness' with Jimmy Fallon, calling the time it comes 'the most glorious time of the year.'

Voila! In 2013, Barbara Walters showed off her cake from Cruise on The View with Jenny McCarthy, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sherri Shepherd 

'This is from Tom Cruise,' she said. 'And everyone here got one, not just me. Isn't that nice?' 

'If you're lucky enough to be on this list,' Cobie said. 'It's so good, I leave it in my freezer and it lasts until, like March. I just slowly chip away at this thing. It's so good.' 

'You get anything from Tom Cruise, you eat, you put in the freezer, you save for a year,' Jimmy replied.

In 2013, Barbara Walters showed off her cake from Cruise on The View with Jenny McCarthy, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sherri Shepherd.

'This is from Tom Cruise,' she said. 'And everyone here got one, not just me. Isn't that nice?'   

Other people to get the cake include Sofia Vergara,  Renée Zellweger, and Graham Norton.

'It's a nice cake,' Zellweger told Norton — whose crew ate up the cake before he could get any.

According to Yahoo, Cruise previously said that he sends cakes 'to everyone.' 

'And I wait for the calls,' he added, from people who gush about the cake. 'I’m like: Tell me about it.'

Hollywood fave: Sofia Vergara has also shared photos of herself with the cake, though it's unclear whether she got it from Cruise or purchased it herself

Eric Doan is aware that that the cake has taken on a life of its own.

'Over the years of Odin Productions gifting it, it’s taken on that moniker of the "Tom Cruise cake," if you will,' he said — but added that Diane Keaton loved it first. 

According to Yahoo, Keaton introduced the cake Katie Holmes when she was still married to Cruise while they were filming the movie Mad Money, which came out in 2008.

Cruise tasted it and clearly fell in love.

And though he has been buying the cake for years, Doan says they have never actually met the star. 

Share or comment on this article: Bakery behind Tom Cruise's Christmas cake says he 'kept us in business'

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Celebs Rant And Rave About Tom Cruise’s Famous Christmas Cake, And Co-Star Hayley Atwell Just Revealed The Wrapping Is Also Gorgeous

Because of course it is.

‘Tis the season for some holiday cheer, and for those lucky enough, Tom Cruise ’s annual Christmas cake. For those unaware, every year Cruise sends a beautiful coconut cake to some of his former co-stars and friends around the holidays. The cake is legendary and apparently delicious. The last few years, Hayley Atwell found her way onto this exclusive cake list after collaborating with the action star on Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning. She recently posted a picture of the package on Instagram, and the wrapping is just as impressive as the cake. 

It’s no surprise that a cake sent by the Magnolia actor would also be wrapped immaculately. Cruise is famously a perfectionist, always going the extra mile to ensure he produces the best product possible at the movies. His Christmas present delivery is no exception, as his cakes were delivered in perfect white boxes adorned with a festive gold ribbon and a sparkly reindeer ornament. Of course, he also added a little note, wishing the recipient a happy holiday. You can see the Instagram story post by Atwell below: 

While Hayley Atwell didn’t show a photo of the actual cake, the gorgeous box is a great tease of what’s inside. Tom Hanks once said that he would choose the Christmas cake as his last meal if he could, describing it as a “white chocolate coconut bundt cake” which sounds absolutely heavenly. Top Gun: Maverick co-star Glen Powell even threw a party to celebrate landing on the infamous cake list, which really shows just how this is a legendary dessert. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. 

Based on the picture she took, Hayley Atwell’s cake turned up in perfect condition, but that hasn’t always been the case, and not every delivery man knows what kind of precious cargo they are carrying. Last year, Michael Bay’s yearly gift from Cruise arrived in tough shape . Even in its melted form, the cake still is probably very tasty. However, if I had to choose, the Atwell way is just so aesthetically pleasing, and it almost makes you forget about the delicious contents inside. 

Atwell can definitely get used to seeing a cake show up at her doorstep every year, as she will be working with Cruise again soon. The end of Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning promises an action packed follow up, and the team has been working on M:I 8 since the previous film wrapped. That means fans can anticipate Cruise and Atwell on the big screen together again very soon. There are many reasons to make a movie with the Jerry Maguire actor, including his undying commitment and infectious energy, but getting on that cake list is definitely a holiday perk worth mentioning. 

When Hayley Atwell isn’t receiving cakes from Tom Cruise, she’s acting alongside him. You can see both movie stars in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning , which can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription . For more information on other 2023 films available to rent or stream during this holiday season, make sure to check out the 2023 movie release schedule . 

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The Surprising Holiday Gift Tom Cruise Sends To Everyone On His List

It's hard enough for us mere mortals to find decent holiday gifts for our families every December. There's always that one relative who re-gifts everything you give them, or that seven-year-old whose preferences switch from Elsa to PAW Patrol to LEGO Batman in the course of a day. Imagine being a major celebrity whose annual present list includes dozens of other A-listers: What do you get for people who can already afford pretty much everything? And how many hours do you have to spend at the mall to do it?

For Tom Cruise, that challenge is definitely not a Mission: Impossible . For years, the superstar's go-to Christmas present is a delivery of a White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake, freshly baked from Doan's Bakery in Woodland Hills, CA. According to Yahoo! Entertainment , Cruise's recipients include Jimmy Fallon, Rosie O'Donnell, Kirsten Dunst, Barbara Walters, Cobie Smulders, and his Jerry Maguire costar Renée Zellweger — all of whom rave about the confection and look forward to receiving it every year. 

Tom Cruise's cake is a family tradition

According to Goldbelly , the gourmet food delivery service that ships the bakery's products, the "Cruise cake" is an original creation of Doan's Bakery founder Karen Doan. The moist coconut cake is studded inside with white chocolate chips and iced with cream cheese frosting; a generous layer of toasted coconut flakes tops it off. "The result is a delicious, pillowy cake good enough to derail the strictest Hollywood diets," says Goldbelly's website. 

Cruise's introduction to this slice of heaven was back in 2008 (per Yahoo! Entertainment ), when his then-wife Katie Holmes and Diane Keaton were filming Mad Money  in Louisiana. The costars each ordered their favorite bakery cakes flown in to see whose was the best, with Cruise acting as judge. He declared Doan's cake (Keaton's choice) the winner, and a tradition was born. Normally, Doan's does most of its business wholesale to restaurants, but when the pandemic forced eateries to shut down this past spring, the small bakery might have gone belly-up if not for both Cruise's generous orders and the resulting publicity that has boosted sales to individual customers. "[It's] one of the things that kept us alive," Doan told Yahoo!

A decadent coconut cake is always the right size, never goes out of style, doesn't need batteries, and won't sit untouched at the bottom of a drawer for months. Now ... anyone know how to get us onto Tom Cruise's gift list?

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