KosherEye.com
by Paula Lefkowitz
This is a recipe for my grandmother's Apple Cake which I call "Jewish" Apple Cake. When my grandmother died, none of her recipes were written down and the family realized that all of her recipes were lost. So I went to the library and spent days and days going through old cookbooks until I could find a recipe for this apple cake. So, it is not actually my grandmother's apple cake but it is what we think her apple cake was. The only thing anyone in the family knew was that the apple cake was made with oil. This cake is full of apples, and is really delicious.
Ingredients:
5 apples, assorted, peeled, cored and cubed
2 teaspoons cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple or orange juice
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or raisins (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the apples in a large bowl. Add the cinnamon and sugar to the apples and mix very well. Set aside so that the juices can form and when mixed into the cake, they will caramelize.
In a separate bowl, add the sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. Using a whisk, mix well to combine the dry ingredients.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the vegetable oil and juice. With the mixer running, add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and let it beat until it gets a little thick. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick.
Grease a tube pan or an 11 x 13-inch Pyrex pan, which is how my grandmother made it.
Put half the batter into the tube pan. Try to smooth the top so that it evenly covers the pan. Mix the apples again and place half over the top of the cake batter - try to evenly distribute the apples. If using walnuts or raisins, sprinkle them over the apples. My grandmother used raisins. Place the remaining batter over the apple layer. This can be tricky because the batter is very thick. Drop by spoonfuls and smooth it out and cover all of the apples. Top with remaining apples, juice and all, covering the batter. Tap the pan on the counter to settle the dough.
Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Start checking at one hour and 15 minutes with a cake tester. When it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Notes:
Yield: 1 apple cake
Watch Paula Lefkowitz demonstrate how to make her grandmother's Apple Cake
Recipes: Desserts, Cake, Apples, Parve, Kosher