Edna Lewis’s Busy Day Cake
“A busy day cake, or sweet bread as it was really called, was regular cake batter, measured out and stirred in a hurry while vegetables cooked on one end of the wood stove,” writes Edna Lewis in her 1976 cookbook and farm-to-table manifesto, “The Taste of Country Cooking.” Slightly sweet and crumbly, this cake, adapted from the 50th anniversary edition of her cookbook (Knopf, 2026), comes together quickly and is a great backpocket recipe for a simple dessert that can be adorned with any seasonal fruit compote, Ms. Lewis’s brandied peaches or even sweetened whipped cream. The cake has a beautiful rise but may sink a bit in the middle; that’s just part of its humble charm.
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