Celebrating Mercy - Citrus Pound Cake with Lemon Buttercream

My youngest sister passed away many years ago. My family still gets together on her birthday to remember and celebrate her. This year I couldn't think of a better way to remember Mercy than to sit in my kitchen, cry a little, and make a cake that made me think of my sister. She loved bright colors, and she would have loved this cake.

I brought the cake to dinner with my family. Now, the design was something I wanted to do to spend time remembering Mercy, the flavor and frosting were another battle.

I grew up in a family full of food allergies. I think it started there, but turned into preference... and we ended up not being a "cake" family. When I sat down to decide on a type of cake, I couldn't even figure out what kind of cakes my family members like. They like rice krispy treats, brownies and ice cream and not cake... which I think is a shame. So I decided on an orange pound cake with my lemon buttercream frosting. I've been trying various lemon-y pound cake recipes, and this one was full of punch, and was good, but won't take the cake for my Lemon Pound Cake "go-to" recipe. The cake alone has so much flavor that if I use it again, I might pair it with a meringue frosting, a regular buttercream, or even leave it plain.

I love how Mercy's cake turned out-- and I might have even helped push my family into being more of a cake family.