It is a shame I didn’t get a shot of a slice of this cake.  I could have, should have, but I didn’t.  Sorry about that.  If I had, you would have seen the glorious tight and dense crumb.  In my opinion, it is a tight and dense crumb that makes a pound cake great.  That and lots of butter.

This recipe comes by way of a memoir.  Normally, I am a little suspect of recipes in memoirs (unless we are talking about a food memoir like Cooking for Mr. Latte or A Homemade Life).  My thoughts are along the lines of “who is this person and why does he/she think she can just include a recipe at the end of each chapter?”  My friend Cheryl gave me a copy of Cakewalk last summer and it has been sitting on my “to read” pile for far too long.  It  is the story of a very interesting and troubled family.  It is well-written and although food is not the subject, the author does write about tantalizing treats.  Many of the end-of-chapter recipes spoke to me but I made this one because I had all the ingredients on hand.

(OK, so you may notice a small bit of the corner cut off.  For scientific purposes only!)

Sometimes I just want to bake.  If you like to bake, I’m sure you are familiar with this feeling.  For me, it isn’t even so much for the end result although ending up with a homemade baked good is nice.  Sometimes it is just the act of pulling out the flour and sugar, turning on the mixer, preheating the oven, anticipating the smells that will soon perfume my house…  When I just want to bake, I don’t want to fuss.  Cookies are too much trouble – all that shaping and switching baking sheets in the oven.  This is why I love simple cakes.

I did a little dessert party last night – a reception for a very moving play currently running at the New City Theatre in Seattle.  Sick tells of one woman’s struggle with pain and medication and the cracks we can all fall through in the American medical system.  You can read more about the play here.  Randy and I wanted to support the playwright and actress and we decided to invite some of our friends to attend.  We lured them with the promise of a compelling story and with treats afterward.

I made butterscotch pudding tarts and chocolate friands (recipes coming soon).  I made the most favorite chocolate chip cookies.  But several people pulled me aside to tell me this cake was their favorite.  It is comfort food at its most comfortable.  And the glaze!  Swoon.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake
Adapted from Cakewalk
Makes two 8×4-inch loaves

You can make this cake in one 9 or 10-inch tube pan, but I love the idea of having two cakes out of one recipe.  I served one cake the day I made it and wrapped and froze the other one.  The cake should be frozen unglazed, so if you do this, be sure to cut the glaze recipe in half.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Butter and flour two 8×4-inch loaf pans, knocking out excess flour.  Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.  Set aside.

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes, until whipped looking.  Slowly add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes, increasing the speed to medium-high.  The mixture should look very light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beat well after each one.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.

Combine the milk with the vanilla.  Add the flour in 3 portions alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.  Fold the last flour addition in by hand with a rubber spatula.  Turn the batter into the prepared pans.  Bake for 1 to 1½ hours, checking after 55 minutes and every 5 to 10 minutes thereafter, until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out with just moist crumbs attached.  If the cake is very brown after 55 minutes but not yet fully baked, cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil.  When done, the cake will be springy to the touch and pulling away from the sides of the pan.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

Brown Sugar Glaze

Remember, this amount will glaze both cakes.  If you are only glazing one, cut the recipe in half.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup whole milk
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, then add the brown sugar and raise the heat to medium.  Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.  Add the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in the salt and vanilla.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

Sift 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar over the mixture, stirring with a whisk until smooth.  If the glaze is thick enough for your liking, you can stop there.  If not, sift the additional ½ cup sugar in.  Place the cake (still on the wire rack) over a wax paper lined baking sheet.  Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and allow it to drip down the sides.  Allow the glaze to set completely before slicing and serving.  Wrapped carefully, this cake will keep for several days at room temperature.  If you happen to have some homemade caramel sauce on hand, it is amazing poured over top.

I want to thank those of you who left such thoughtful comments on my last post.  I truly appreciate you sharing your own struggles and ideas with me.  I love having such thoughtful, interesting, and intelligent readers!

I have started to feel a bit like June Cleaver lately.  At 3:45 each day, Graham comes off the school bus from kindergarten and most of those days I open the door for him fresh off some baking project.  I (sometimes) have an apron on and there is some kind of treat cooling on the kitchen counter.  Graham (bless him) always takes a deep breath and says, “It smells so good Mommy!”  I differ from good old June in that I have flour in my hair and my kitchen looks like a train just went through it at high speed.

My sweet Graham has a sense that I make special things.  That maybe not everyone else’s mommy keeps a cookie jar full of homemade treats or has things like apple cakes lying around the house.  He will tell me, unprompted, “You are a good cooker Mommy.”  He is eager to try whatever I have out on the cooling rack and is heartbroken when I tell him it is for “friends” – students in my classes, Randy’s office mates, or catering clients.  I do a lot of that type of baking, baking for “friends”, but I often just like to have a treat on hand for my husband, kids, and whoever happens to come over during the week.

I’ve been seeing a lot of apple cakes around the blogosphere lately as we prepare to say goodbye to them for a season or two.  This has made me realize that I haven’t been seeing a lot of apple cakes coming out of my kitchen lately.  I figured I had better remedy that while the weather is still fall/winter-esque.  Truthfully, I love apple desserts and would have no problem serving them all year, but once the berries come start in June, apples start to look a little, um, homely.

I think of this cake as “have a little cake with your apples”.  Actually, I hate that type of expression.  Like when someone says, “Have a little french fries with your ketchup!”  Who are they to say how much ketchup is the right amount for a french fry? In my world, it’s a lot.  So who am I to say how much batter should be mixed together to hold all these apples?  I quite like this proportion.  Big chunks of apple and walnuts (I didn’t mind the nuts here) with a spicy cake batter keeping it honest.

The name of this cake is Apple Snacking Spice Cake which suits it perfectly.  Not fancy, not really all that sweet.  It would be great for a brunch or just for a special after-kindergarten treat.

One Year Ago: Fideos with Pasilla Chiles, Avocado, and Crema
Two Years Ago: Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable Salad

Apple Snacking Spice Cake
Flour
Makes one 10-inch round cake

I am including Chang’s instructions for turning the cake out onto a platter, but it was very clear to me that this cake was not going to leave my pan in one piece.  I opted to forgo the heartbreak that is a broken cake and just serve this out of the pan.

1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup cake flour
1½ tsp. baking soda
½ kosher salt
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1½ cups granulated sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
4 cups peeled, cored, and chopped Granny Smith apples (2 to 3 apples)
½ cup raisins
1 cup pecan halves, toasted and chopped (I used walnuts)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour a 10-inch round cake pan.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.  (Or, sift together into a medium bowl if using a hand-held mixer.)  Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment.  Add the granulated sugar and butter to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, or until the butter is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients.  Stop the mixer several times to scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl to make sure all of the butter is mixed in.  Add the eggs and mix on low speed for 10 to 15 seconds, or until fully incorporated.  Then turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for about 1 minute, or until the batter is light and fluffy.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in the apples, raisins, and pecans.  The batter will be very stiff and thick.  It will look like too many apples and not enough batter, but that’s okay.  Scrape all of the batter into the prepared pan, then spread it evenly to fill the pan.

Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the cake feels firm when you press it int he middle and the top is dark golden brown.  (DT: Mine was done at 1 hour.  Be sure to check!) Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Invert the cake onto a serving plate, lifting away the pan, and then invert the cake again so it is right-side up.  Slice and plate, then dust the slices with confectioners’ sugar.

The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.  Or, it can be well wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 weeks.  Thaw overnight at room temperature before serving.