Friday, September 22, 2006

.... on rosh hashanah it is written

according to the jewish religion, our names are inscribed into the book of life for the new year on rosh hashanah and our fate sealed on yom kippur — the day of atonement, the holiest day of our year, 10 days after rosh hashanah.

the next two days will be busy as jewish families gather, attend services at synagogues and of course, eat! i am leaving you with two recipes involving apples: one is a cake, the other what is called a pudding but is really more of a cake, best served warm.


amazing apple cake

based on recipe from Ohio caterers:
paula levine weinstein and julie komerofsky remer.


ingredients:

(note: original recipe was cloyingly sweet and much too dense; the reworked amounts make a much lighter and more appealing cake in terms of sweetness)

3 c AP flour
1 c vegetable oil
1/2 c 1 ¼ to 1 ½ c orange juice
(or ¾ to 1 c orange juice + 1/2 c applesauce)
1 tbsp baking powder
2 c 1 1/2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt

4 - 5 6 -7 apples*, sliced (only use baking apples like macintosh)
1 ½ - 2 ½ tsp cinnamon
2/3 c granulated sugar

method:

you need three large bowls and a smaller one for this recipe.

peel apples and slice thinly, mix with 1 tbsp lemon juice in a large bowl. in another dish or small bowl, mix the 2/3 c. sugar with the cinnamon and set aside also.

mix dry cake ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. in another, mix the wet ingredients together. add the wet to the dry.

beat until smooth.

pour half the batter into a greased 10 inch tube pan with a removable bottom. you can also use a very large pyrex but keep an eye on the baking time.

sprinkle with a little less than 1/2 of the cinnamon sugar.

arrange half the apples with half of the juices, if any, then sprinkle with a little more cinnamon sugar. repeat layer again. the last half of the apples will be on top of the cake.

bake at 300 F for 90 minutes or longer until done. let cool completely as the juices from the apples need to be absorbed by the cake before being removed.

notes:

*this cake actually tastes better the next day; the juices from the apples flavour the cake further;

*you need to use apples which will break down while baking like macintosh apples (or other similar kinds; see apple info post for other varieties);

*this cake has to be baked in a tube pan or in a very large pyrex.
this recipe is named for the connection with the apple & the garden of eden, and is from british cookery author Evelyn Rose:

eve's "pudding" [a light, saucy apple cake]
1/3 c soft margarine [or butter]
1/3 c sugar
1 1/4 c self-raising flour [see note in post about israeli honey cake]
pinch extra baking powder
2 eggs
1 tbsp water [or milk]

for the fruit:

4 large baking apples
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp water
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

preheat oven to 350F

peel and core the apples and slice thinly. place in a large bowl and acidulate with the lemon juice and water. add the sugar and cinnamon and stir to make sure everything is coated.

in another bowl, combine butter and sugar. add remaining ingredients and mix well. the batter will be thick.

in an 8 in well oiled baking dish, lay the apples down with any juices that are in the bottom. taking spoonfuls of the batter [grease your spoon and it will slip right off] over the apples. it may look like there is not enough but there is. taking a greased spoon again spread the batter all over the apples, don't worry if there are apples poking through or little spaces.

bake this for 45 - 50 minutes until browned and bubbling. serve warm.
see you on Monday.

shanah tovah — happy new year.

שנה טובה בריאה ומתוקה לכולם

17 comments:

Ruth Daniels said...

Shana tova! Isn't it amazing how many variations there are on a simple thing like apple cake.

Thanks for sharing. I particularly like the sounds of the first one, especially since I just bought a new spring form tube pan.

burekaboy — said...

hi ruth -- thanx for stopping by. there are a TON of variations for this cake. the first one is particulary good. [the second one too but it is more of a "sunday afternoon" kind of cake; easy & informal].

have fun with the new pan.

Chanita Harel חני הראל said...

This cake looks WONDERFUL, thanks !
I need your help.. please:
How can I make the "older posts" link?
And how do I make Labels or an Index?.. my recipe list is very long..
I love your Blog !!
Thank you :-)
גמר חתימה טובה

Ruth Daniels said...

It really is a beautiful photo. What kind of camera are you using?

burekaboy — said...

chanit - thanx for the compliment. i will get back to you via email about the other things.

גמר חתימה טובה לך גם כן

ruth - for those shots i used my canon A95 digital. a good photo makes ALL the difference.

Anonymous said...

Hi Burekaboy, thank you for your kind words regarding to my blog and my poundcake(if it was to my choice it should be called a ton-cake not poundcake!. Poundcakes are great!. What I try to do in my blog is to be simply honest and share the collection of all the things I'm baking or cooking, after all the rest is up to us to try to learn and share some knowledge from everybody else. Next week I will bake this apple cake, I got some apples in my kitchen and it's been awhile since I want to try this cake. I'll be back here next week to tell you how things develop.

burekaboy — said...

hey roberto -- glad i found your site; i look forward to reading more about your baking adventures. i know what you mean about the poundcake ... perhaps you should make one called "the ten ton cake, poundcake's cousin"! ;p

please do let me know how the cake turns out. warning: this is a HUGE cake and needs the tubepan. it really is much better the next day or two later, as the apple juices get absorbed by the cake. i would perhaps suggest making it and letting it age overnight before trying it. also, it is a sweet cake so you may want to use less sugar than called for perhaps by a 1/2 c, or 2/3 c. at most.

waiting for your results! thanks for the visit.

Anonymous said...

Now I got it Bureka!, I'm going right now to buy the spring-form pan(removable bottom)and you'll be the first one to know when this cake gets out from Roberto's kitchen factory. At the latest it would be Wednesday.

You are right, I don't have any e-mail in my blog, but dont worry I love grafitti all over my comments, so write me anywhere you like, the important thing is I read you and you read me ;)

Anonymous said...

Bureka boy I already made this cake, you can see it at my blog, its good but will be better tomorrow thanksgiving day. Have a great thanksgiving day you too.

burekaboy — said...

hey roberto, yo voy a venir verlo ahora. i hope it worked well! ;p

Anonymous said...

hi,nice blog.your recipe for apple cake sounds intersting.your help is needed here.just wanna clear some doubts before trying this one out. why is tube pan an absolute must here? can this be replaced with an ordinary cake tin?if yes,
what size would you suggest? does baking time change accordingly?thankxx-
niki

burekaboy — said...

hi niki - thanks for your visit and comment.

the reason a tube type pan is used for this cake (or any cake calling for one) is to allow it to cook evenly within the given time. they are usually used for very large cakes where the heat can cook the cake from the center (the tube part) and the outsides at the same time. it would work well baked in a large rectangular sheet style pan where the issue of more even baking would be fixed due to the shape of the pan. you'd have to reduce the baking time and check the center with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. of course, it won't look the same as a nice high cake but this kind of cake is often made in a sheet pan.

the best pan is actually a springform one with a tube insert; they can be found at various kitchen shops (check the net to get an idea). for this size cake, you need a very large pan. i actually use an angelfood cake pan as the center part comes out of it. i believe it's a 12 cup (american).

two other notes: the cake, as the caterers wrote it (see recipe), is quite sweet. i suggest reducing the amount of sugar a bit as i mention in the recipe writeup. also, you need to use apples like macintosh -- basically baking apples, ones which will reduce somewhat and give off juices while baking.

another alternative is to bake these is very large style muffin pans to make small individual cakes. make sure the pans are very well greased and floured to make removal easy. you'd probably want to consider cutting the recipe in half unless you're cooking for a very large group (or have a ton of pans!) and change the cooking time.

hope that helps. if you have more questions, let me know.

Anonymous said...

so ok,if i plan to divide the recipe in two halves,then what sized round pans would you suggest? and approximate baking times in that case would be? thankx in advance! greetings from newzealand - niki

burekaboy — said...

niki - hi again :) try (at least) 9 or (better yet) 10 inch diameter pans (round) and start checking around after 50 or 60 minutes of baking. it's hard to say as i've never made the cake in this format. i really think you'd be best using a springform type pan as it has higher sides and will allow the cake to rise up against its walls. anyway, you can gauge things as you adding the batter.

just make sure it's well risen and looks more or less baked before opening the oven to prevent a possible collapse (it shouldn't). good luck and hope to hear how it turns out. just note that the cake is very dense; it's not a light airy texture and improves greatly by the next day.

Anonymous said...

yikes!no luck with this cake. made this as written.got hold of tube pan after you insisted. will be frank here.dense is ok but this one was way tooooooooo dense.
not much flavor either!really wanted to like it but found it to be just ok. liked the layering effect though!overall, i liked it, didn't love it! appreciate your help!thankxx.-niki

burekaboy — said...

niki - hi. thanks for getting back to me. i do appreciate your feedback. to that end, i am sorry to hear you did not like the final result; i do understand how you might not have liked it -- especially in comparison to other regular cakes (in terms of its density). i will say, however, that it does taste better after having sat a day or two (the juices from the apples get absorbed by the cake). i'm surprised you say it had no flavour. yikes. not sure what type of apples you used and that has a lot to do with it.

i also have to say that this is a certain type/style of cake which is common in the jewish community which is why i posted it for the jewish new year (rosh hashanah). of course, not all recipes are the same and some are better than others. this was a recipe from popular caterers in the united states (see post). the only changes i made in posting the recipe was stating to reduce the sugar content. i found it way too sweet in the original.

in any event, if you haven't thrown it out, please try it after a day or two and see if it has improved. i am actually going to retry it (in a smaller portion) and either reduce the flour or increase the liquid & amount of apples used and see what difference it makes.

again, niki, i do thank you for your critique — i find them very helpful. sorry you were disappointed :*( hope you'll still visit and not be turned off the recipes i've added in my blog!

burekaboy — said...

for those reading comments, recipe has been edited and reworked -- while original was "okay", edited version is MUCH better.