Apple Snacking Spice Cake

I adored my fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Davis, and at the end of the school year, I wanted to bake her a cake to let her know how much I loved her. I saw a picture of an apple spice cake in a magazine and tried, with my mom’s help, to make it. It didn’t go well. We tried four times, each attempt more disastrous than the one before. Finally, we gave up on the from-scratch idea and made a cake from a mix. Ms. Davis proclaimed it the best cake she’d ever tasted