Apple Pound Cake -- The Glaze That Sets Like a Lacquer, and the Kitchen Where Everyone Returns

The Damiano Center on Thursday: wild rice soup, fifty gallons, the same recipe I have been making for twenty-some years now. The constancy is the point. People come into the basement of that building hungry and uncertain and what they find is a fifty-gallon pot of wild rice soup that has been there every Thursday of every year, and they find Linda Johansson, who has been there too, and the constancy is the message: you can come back. You can come back. You can come back. Lena (Anna's youngest, college freshman) is in college now. She calls me sometimes. The calls are about boys, mostly. I listen. I do not give advice. I am eighteen-year-old's grandmother. My credibility on boys is suspect at best. I tell her the kinds of things a grandmother is supposed to tell her: be careful, be brave, trust your gut, do not date the one who reminds you of someone you do not like. She thinks I am wise. I am, in fact, just old. The two get confused sometimes in the right direction. Jakob (Anna's middle, recently graduated) has a job. He hates the job. He is figuring it out. He called me Tuesday for advice. I told him: that is what your twenties are for. The first job is supposed to be unsatisfying. The first job teaches you what you do not want. He said, "Grandma, that is not super helpful." I said, "It is the truth. Helpful is not always the same as comforting." He laughed. He hung up. He kept the job for now. He will figure it out. I cooked Caramel apple cake this week. An apple cake with a caramel glaze poured over while still warm. The glaze sets into a thin lacquer. The cake stays moist for a week. Damiano Thursday: a young father came in with two small children. He had not eaten in a day. The children had crackers from a bus station. I gave them three bowls each. They ate without speaking. The father wept silently while he ate. I pretended not to notice. Scandinavian decorum, applied with care. After he left, Gerald and I stood at the pot for a long minute. We did not speak. We knew what we had seen. The pot stayed warm. I miss Erik. I have been missing Erik more than I anticipated. I knew I would miss him, but I had not realized how often the missing would surface — in small specific moments, like noticing the wood pile is low and remembering that he used to chop it for me, or looking at the calendar and seeing the Sunday and knowing he is not coming for dinner. Erik was the closest person to me in space and time. The space and time are now not closed by anyone in particular. The kids fill the gap as they can. The gap is still a gap. It is enough. Paul is not here. Mamma is not here. Pappa is not here. Erik is not here. They are all here in the kitchen, in the smell, in the taste, in the wooden spoon and the bread pans and the marble slab. The dead are not where the body went. The dead are in the kitchen. It is enough.

The caramel apple cake I mentioned this week — that is this one. I poured the glaze over while the cake was still warm, watched it set into that thin lacquer I described, and cut the first slice on Thursday evening after I came home from Damiano. There is something right about a cake that stays moist for a week: it does not ask you to hurry. It is still there the next day, and the day after that, the same as it was — and in a week like this one, that constancy felt like exactly the message I needed to give myself, the same one I have been giving at that soup pot for twenty-some years now. You can come back.

Apple Pound Cake

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min | Total Time: 1 hr 30 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups peeled and finely chopped tart apples (about 3 medium apples)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
• Caramel Glaze:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan thoroughly, making sure to coat all crevices.
2. Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
3. Mix wet ingredients. In a separate large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth and well combined, about 2 minutes.
4. Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined — the batter will be thick. Fold in the chopped apples and nuts if using.
5. Bake. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 65–75 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown.
6. Make the caramel glaze. About 10 minutes before the cake is done, combine the butter, milk, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter melts and the sugar fully dissolves. Bring just to a gentle boil, then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
7. Glaze while warm. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Immediately pour the warm caramel glaze slowly over the cake, allowing it to soak in and run down the sides. Let the glaze set for at least 20 minutes before slicing — it will set into a thin, glossy lacquer.
8. Store. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container at room temperature. It keeps beautifully and stays moist for up to one week.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 26g | Carbs: 68g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 210mg