Jewish Apple Cake

Spring is here, and even though the trees and shrubs are awash in blooming splendor, the nights in Vancouver are still chilly. The heat is still pumping in my building, and since I'm not quite ready to put away the down comforter, I felt like making a winter dessert - my Aunt Teresa's Jewish Apple Cake.
My family isn't Jewish, but we are Polish, and through centuries of living side by side and cultural intermingling, the two cuisines now have lot in common. This is not Passover-worthy cake, (it uses leaveners), however, it uses orange juice instead of milk, and therefore makes it an appropriate follow-up to a kosher meat meal.
For those who, like me, have no kosher-centered needs, it's just good cake...

A couple notes - I've modified the recipe slightly to make it healthier:

1) Instead of regular sugar, I used Rapadura - a whole, unrefined sugar made by a German company called Rapunzel. It's just like regular sugar, except it hasn't had all of the inherent minerals boiled away - this is what "real" sugar once was, and it has a lovely brown color, as well as a great, fruity/molasses-y taste. Rapadura is now easily available at health food stores, and works great in any sweet recipe. If you don't have any on hand, just substitute in regular sugar - the resulting cake will be a bit lighter in color...

2) The original recipe calls for a cup of vegetable oil, but I found it works very well with melted coconut oil. Coconut oil is not processed and denatured the way conventional yellow oils are - it's full of heat-stable, saturated fatty acids and hasn't been treated with metals, deodorized or bleached like canola, corn, or soy oils.. Coconut oil is available anywhere these days, you can store it in your cupboard almost indefinitely, and depending on the weather, it will alternate between becoming liquid and solid. If it's solid, just scoop some into a measuring cup, and heat until completely melted.


This is one of those throw-it-all-in-at-once recipes - a breeze to make, and pretty fool-proof:

Apple Layer
6 medium Granny Smith apples - peeled, sectioned, and sliced into bite-sized pieces
5 Tbs. Rapadura sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine apples, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix until well combined and set aside. (Some juices may accumulate, but that's okay - when it comes time you can just pour them into the batter).

Cake
3 cups flour
2 1/2 cups Rapadura sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup coconut oil, melted
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Place flour in a large mixing bowl, make a well in the middle, and crack in eggs, orange juice, sugar, baking powder, salt, coconut oil, and vanilla. Mix on medium approxiamtely two minutes, or until well-combined. (Do not overmix - the batter will be thick).

Pour about three-fourths of the batter into a greased flute pan. Spoon in apples and any juices - spread out to form a more or less even layer. Pour remaining batter on top. Using a spatula or spoon, spread the batter to cover the apples - don't worry if it's a bit messy, or if the apples aren't 100% covered - it bakes up nicely in the end.

Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean, (allow for the wetness of the apples - the toothpick can have moist bits on it, but no runny batter).

sliced apples, cinnamon, sugar

first layer of batter

apple layer

top batter layer

the smell fills the apartment...

I've never had anyone refuse a piece of this cake - simple, moist and delicious. I've never tried any other variations, but I bet it would work well with sour cherries - if you give it a shot, let me know how it turns out...