As freshly picked apples fill the bins at farmers markets and grocery stores alike, I'm inspired to bake them into old-fashioned apple cakes. I'm partial to dense, not-too-sweet cakes studded with chunks of juicy apples.

My longtime favorite apple cake recipe is the happy result of an occasion I was not anticipating. Living the lean existence of a young bride in married-student housing while my husband was in graduate school, I reluctantly attended a party at which overpriced plasticware was featured and sold.