The Apple Doesn’t Fall Too Far from the Tree

An Easy Little Apple Cake with a Big Backstory

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Grandmother’s Apple Cake was the only dessert my mother ever baked.

I used to tease my mom that the domestic gene skipped a generation. If slogan T-shirts had been invented when we were kids, Mom’s would have read, “I’d rather be painting.” Let’s just say my mother was born too soon. She was a gifted painter and sculptor saddled with four children because that was what was expected of her. She wore her wifely and motherly duties, especially cooking, like a heavy ball and chain.

My grandmother, however (always known as ‘Grandmother’, never Granny, Grandma, or Gran) took an interest in cooking. While she had her shortcomin…