Perfect Pound Cake & Valentine Sweets

Last week I actually had some down time which is completely unusual for me these days, & all I wanted to do was bake. I had seen a recipe for pound cake on The Pioneer Woman's website that looked good, so I decided to give that a try. You can't go wrong with a good pound cake...it's buttery & dense with a nice crumb. The recipe came together very easily, but I had to bake my cake for about 30 minutes longer than the recipe called for. The cake itself is very delicious, but it was a little too lemony for me. I would like to make it again but use less lemon extract. You can find the step-by-step recipe here.

After the pound cake, I decided to whip up some sugar cookies for my best friend & I to enjoy on our Valentine's Day date. (Our date consisted of eating junk food & laying on her couch watching movies.) The only sugar cookie recipe I ever use is the one from the book Cookie Craft. The cookies have turned out perfectly every time I use the recipe, & this batch was no exception. I just used some simple colored sugar & heart sprinkles that I had to decorate them, & I think they turned out really cute.