Heavenly Apple Cake

Heavenly Apple Cake
Heavenly Apple Cake
In my family we always inaugurate the Jewish New Year with our first apple dessert of the fall season. The tradition in Andra's home is to begin the year with a round challah and to end it with a cake topped with concentric circles of sliced apples. This dessert is very similar to Jewish apple cake, a Polish dessert that was very popular in church cookbooks throughout Maryland. I believe it is called Jewish because it is an oil-based rather than a butter-based cake. Andra's version is particularly easy, attractive, and delicious.
  • Preparing Time: -
  • Total Time: -
  • Served Person: Makes 1 Cake
Jewish Cake Egg Fruit Dessert Sukkot Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur Apple Fall Kosher Kidney Friendly Vegetarian Pescatarian Dairy Free Peanut Free Tree Nut Free Soy Free
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
  • Carbohydrate 61 g(20%)
  • Cholesterol 53 mg(18%)
  • Fat 18 g(27%)
  • Fiber 3 g(11%)
  • Protein 5 g(10%)
  • Saturated Fat 2 g(8%)
  • Sodium 183 mg(8%)
  • Calories 419

Preparation Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Mix the flour, wheat germ, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. Peel, core, and slice the apples into eighths and place in another bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice. In a third bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the vegetable oil and 1 3/4 cups of the sugar; beat well. Stir in the vanilla. To the egg mixture; alternately add the dry ingredients and the orange juice. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Cover with half the sliced apples. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle half over the apples. Cover with the remaining batter. Starting at the outside of the pan, neatly place the remaining apple slices in overlapping concentric circles. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Put some aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven in case the batter leaks. Bake the cake on the middle rack for 1 1/4 hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack before you carefully remove the cake from the pan. The Jewish Holiday Baker, by Joan Nathan

Preparation Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Mix the flour, wheat germ, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. Peel, core, and slice the apples into eighths and place in another bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice. In a third bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the vegetable oil and 1 3/4 cups of the sugar; beat well. Stir in the vanilla. To the egg mixture; alternately add the dry ingredients and the orange juice. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Cover with half the sliced apples. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle half over the apples. Cover with the remaining batter. Starting at the outside of the pan, neatly place the remaining apple slices in overlapping concentric circles. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Put some aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven in case the batter leaks. Bake the cake on the middle rack for 1 1/4 hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack before you carefully remove the cake from the pan. The Jewish Holiday Baker, by Joan Nathan