My daughter, Liz, makes amazing cakes. Not only are they delicious, but her decorating skills astonish me. Her knack for it was on full display with two cakes she created for the birthdays we celebrated on our recent family beach trip to Edisto.

For my grandsons, my younger daughter always lets the birthday boy choose a theme for his party. This year her second son, who is turning 10, wanted an “Asterix” theme. For those who don’t know, Asterix (https://asterix.com/en/portfolio/asterix/)  is a series of comic books (and apparently a group of French movies) featuring the titular Asterix, a barbarian hero during the time of the Roman conquest. He adventures around Gaul, and beyond, with his somewhat thick-headed friend Obelix. Books at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Asterix-Omnibus-Gladiator-Banquet-Cleopatra/dp/1444004247/ . The birthday boy loves those comics.

They presented a bit of a challenge when it comes to theming a birthday party, however. The usual stores are short on related merchandise. Elizabeth (Aunt Lizzy to the boys) used her imagination. She made tee-shirts for each of the boys with an iron-on Asterix and Obelix, and then she came up with this brilliant idea for a cake mimicking Obelix’s peculiar garb.

The other birthday was my husband’s and his cakes often have a book theme, since he is a scholarly sort. This one may be the best yet. I believe the title was suggested by either my younger daughter or her husband, a professor of Theology at Notre Dame. It’s a gloriously wonderful pun, suited to the amazing two-book-stack cake she created.