Well, I promised an update on how my mom’s birthday cake turned out, and here it is! I made a cranberry-lemon pound cake with lemon curd filling and Italian meringue lemon buttercream frosting.

The cake and buttercream are from, my favorite, CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch, and the lemon curd is from Martha Stewart (the CakeLove lemon curd recipe called for more egg yolks and butter than any living thing should ever ingest).

I was very pleased with how everything turned out and how it fit together. With a little help from Wilton’s 10-inch cake circles, my layers sliced and stacked without any difficulty.

My mom arrived just as I was putting the finishing touches on the cake decor; I didn’t even have time to change out of my fat squirrel t-shirt… I hope it gives you a good laugh!

I was especially happy with the decorations. Remember I told you that I actually drew specs? My mom loves the ocean, so I wanted to use a few sea shells as tastefully as possible.

She also likes hydrangea, which I think happen to look very beautiful even when they’re fake.

I did unfortunately learn that I don’t care for lemon curd at all… not even a little bit. I scraped it off easily enough on my slice and enjoyed the rest.

It was extremely rich – one slice and you’re set for life! Next time I think I’ll try something a little lighter. You really don’t want to know just how many sticks of butter and individual eggs were sacrificed in the making of this cake… really, it’s better this way.

(Pictured: Emeril’s recipe for Braised Pork with Clams, Mariner’s Style (Portugal), cooked by my father-in-law for dinner on Saturday night and served over pasta. Enjoying this awesome and unique dish with just a bit of bite made adding a Dutch Oven to my wish-list a top priority.)

(Pictured: A half-dozen mouth-watering cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, DC. From top left to bottom right – toasted marshmallow, mocha, red velvet, vanilla with vanilla frosting, chocolate with chocolate ganache and chocolate with coconut frosting.)

And yes, my husband and I did eat all of them in one night.

(Pictured: Chocolate Pound Cake from Warren Brown’s CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch. I absolutely love this book! It’s probably not best for beginners, and some of the ingredients he uses are a little out there, but so far both cakes I’ve made (his “LCD Pound Cake” and this “Chocolate Pound Cake”) have been PHENOMENAL. I can’t wait for my next “excuse” to make more!)

That’s right, I’m getting pumped for Super Bowl XLIII! If you couldn’t tell, I’ll be rooting for the Steelers (and Heath Miller, who graduated from my alma mater, The University of Virginia)!

(Pictured: Eagle Brand’s Double Delicious Cookie Bars – recipe adapted to fit my 8×8 inch pan)