FINALLY!

Well, first, the wreath is done!  Stuart provided some expert civil engineering advice, and I got all the Christmas ornaments to stick ... at least for now.  Before it crashes, here are some pictures.

Second, and the real reason for this post, is that I baked a CAKE!  A sour cream pound cake.  It did not crack, sink, split or explode.  It was neither dry nor underdone.  I might venture to say that it was PERFECT.  Now, if you know my love for cooking, perhaps you're confused by my excitement.  Well, during the 4-ish years that I have been cooking on my own (college doesn't count), I have never been able to make a cake I was happy with.  Cheesecakes, pies, and cookies I have done okay with, but a cake I could never perfect.  But this cake, friends, was life altering.  Moist, delicious, and with a crusty outer layer that all pound cakes need.

Here I think were the keys to my success:
1. I didn't think too much about it.  I had some extra sour cream in the fridge, and decided on a whim to use it up in a pound cake.
2. I greased and floured my pan hard-core.  As in used almost 1/4 stick of butter.  Flashbacks of stuck cornbread flying all over the kitchen resulted in this new successful maneuver.
3. I consulted Paula Deen.

Though I love watching Paula's Southern-ness on the food network, I rarely cook her food because of the loads of butter and lack of vegetables.  But I guess if you plan on making something fattening and delicious, she is the way to go!  Here is the link for the cake recipe.  The only change I made was baking it 70 minutes instead of 80.

Please note the cute platter I (dirtily) won in our small group dirty santa game.

You can ask Stu, I literally squealed when it came out of the pan looking like this!

Since Stuart and I view a plain pound cake as a vehicle for other delicious things, I decided to make a cranberry-apple compote to go on top!  It was the perfect accompaniment!

Who knows, maybe I'll become a part-time cake baker!