brown sugar cake

i made this over Easter weekend.  i am not one to toot my own horn, but it was AMAZINGLY good. 

recipe and picture click here. now.

you can either do two pound cakes or one round.  i did the round. 

a little history on my baking.   sunday night dinner is and was tradition for lawrence clan with bob and nancy.  my mom finally let me make dessert after weeks of asking, i was fresh from college, 22 years old.  she gave me an 'easy' recipe and let me go. i really felt the pressure, so worked hard not to screw it up.  what did i do?  i forgot the damn sugar and it tasted like nothing, absolute nothing.  from then on it was like:

"how do you forget the sugar" 
"libba sucks"
"libba can't cook" 
"libba has small hands"
"don't forget the sugar libba" 
"even dan would remember the sugar"
tough crowd.

i have gotten a lot better over the years.  some have even gone as far to say "these are the best cookies ever" - Eddie Dominion, camping trip 2010.  BUT up until last sunday, when i made something good, it was thought of as a one hit wonder and the "don't forget the sugar" jokes still came up.  well my friends, i think this cake put me on a different level. 

my mom is awesome.  who doesn't have high expectations for dessert?  she is a tough critic when it comes to baking. mean, you ask? no.  rude?  sometimes.  there are no other words to describe her other than Hard Core.  without her em, dan and i wouldn't have a drive to be the best at everything we do and a competitive nature that might scare the weak.  she teaches us the art of humility only the way a mother could.  the "good jobs" are few and far between.  when it happens, man, nothing is better.  on sunday - after twice asking me if i was sure this didn't come from a box...  she said, "wow libba, this is really good, i want the recipe". 

a lone tear rolled down my face.