Birthday, Wedding, and Wake Cake

I once bought a birthday cake from a bakery for one of my children. She greeted it with a pinched expression. (It may run in the family—my grandmother never got over the idea of store-bought bread.) So for special occasions, this is the painless milestone cake I’ve been using for all ages. Put liqueurs in the frosting for grownups and put chocolate or orange flavor in it for kids. It looks and tastes like honest-to-God homemade poundcake if you bake it in a big fancy tube pan or spring mold