Edna Lewis’s Sunday Night Cake

Cookbook author Edna Lewis grew up in Freetown, Virginia, a community started by freed slaves. Back when Edna was chef at Café Nicholson in New York City, regulars would drop by on Sunday nights “straight from the country or even from the airport,” Edna remembers. Every Sunday, she’d bake a big panful of this deliciously plain yellow cake with burnt sugar icing.

The glaze recipe, typical of home baking ea