Tom Cruise (New York, 62 years old) is not only known in Hollywood for his impressive stunts and impossible feats in his films, but some of his fellow Hollywood stars, a lucky few, adore him for his annual Christmas gift, a white chocolate coconut cake . A white work of art created at the family bakery Doan’s Bakery , located in Woodland Hills, California.
Some send Christmas cards, others send cute messages on social media, but Cruise has his own style when it comes to showing his love and holiday spirit. As he told The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2018 , «I like to send these cakes because I don’t eat sugar while I’m working out, so instead of treating myself during the holidays, I’d rather send them to my co-stars and colleagues.»
With chunks of white chocolate, cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut flakes, it’s called Bundt Cake and if you have it waiting for you on your doorstep on Christmas Eve, you’re a star. The exclusive list that receives this piece of snowy heaven are none other than some of the Mission Impossible actor’s closest artists .
Cruise’s Sweet Star List
This list of Hollywood’s finest changes every year. New members, old ones eliminated… every year is a surprise. The names that are always there are Renee Zellweger, Graham Norton, Rosie O’Donnell, Sofia Vergara, Henry Cavill, Kirsten Dunst, Cobie Smulders, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm and Angela Bassett . They have all spoken publicly about this very special reception, because, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t like to receive a cake that costs almost 130 dollars as a gift , and also from Tom Cruise?
In 2024, one of the new members is his Top Gun: Maverick (2022) co-star , Glen Powell, who shared a photo of the cake on his Instagram story, writing: «Cruise’s cake has arrived.» Other names added to this list are Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project) and singer Victoria Canal. On the other hand, on the dark side of the eliminated cast is actress Brooke Shields, among others.
The story behind the cake
The cake, created by Karen Doan, founder of Doan’s Bakery in 1983, began as part of her job making desserts for restaurants, cafes and private events. According to Alexis Doan, Karen’s granddaughter and current manager of the shop, Tom Cruise orders between 300 and 400 cakes each year , although the bakery does not ship and it is not known which Hollywood stars receive them.
In a 2021 interview with Spectrum News , Karen shared how this sweet tradition began. She recalled that Diane Keaton showed Katie Holmes the cake during the filming of Mad Money in 2008, when Holmes was married to Cruise. The couple later hosted a party at their new Beverly Hills home and requested that the bakery make all the cakes for the event and were fascinated with all of their cakes, but especially this coconut and white chocolate example. Since then, there hasn’t been a Christmas that Cruise doesn’t deliver (like Santa Claus) his sweetest gift.
