The ingredients for a Jewish apple cake, with batter items on the left and apple filling (apples, sugar, cinnamon) on the right. I hesitated in calling it “Jewish” apple cake simply because I’m Christian and don’t know how common the term is, but many prominent food web sites feature it, and several sources say it is popular at Rosh Hashanah
                                 Mark Guydish | Times Leader

The ingredients for a Jewish apple cake, with batter items on the left and apple filling (apples, sugar, cinnamon) on the right. I hesitated in calling it “Jewish” apple cake simply because I’m Christian and don’t know how common the term is, but many prominent food web sites feature it, and several sources say it is popular at Rosh Hashanah

Mark Guydish | Times Leader

Recipe involves layering batter, apples, batter, apples

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<p>The cake, done in a bundt pan and thus turned upside down for serving. Using the right tube pan would, in theory, make serving it right side up attractive.</p>
                                 <p>Mark Guydish | Times Leader</p>

The cake, done in a bundt pan and thus turned upside down for serving. Using the right tube pan would, in theory, make serving it right side up attractive.

Mark Guydish | Times Leader

<p>For me, the apple filling was almost addictive when I cut this cake open.</p>
                                 <p>Mark Guydish | Times Leader</p>

For me, the apple filling was almost addictive when I cut this cake open.

Mark Guydish | Times Leader

It was MT’s birthday Dec. 3 (happy birthday!) and I asked what she wanted to do. She opted for reservations at Toscano’s in Wilkes-Barre, making things pretty easy for me. Since we were eating out and would have no guests, a birthday cake became an afterthought.

Then she started talking about baking an applesauce cake, and I figured, well, I should make something. I did a quick search of recipes already in my computer and found this “Jewish Apple Cake” in my “Uncle Jake’s Favorite Recipes” collection compiled by my oldest brother. I figured it would be about as healthy as applesauce cake because it has five apples in it.

It also, I think, has more sugar than the recipe MT had in mind. And it’s a bit harder to make because, as the old warning from many toys and most Ikea furniture say, some assembly required.

Still, it is fairly simple. Peel and chop apples, mix with sugar and cinamon, beat all the dough ingredients together, and layer the two in a tube pan.

The layering is the tricky part, as my dough came out very thick and I had to work a good bit to spread it around on top of the apples. My biggest tip comes from that experience: I got three layers of apples (meaning batter, apples, batter, apples, batter, apples, batter), and I had a good bit more of them for the third layer than I did for the other two. Consider measuring them out roughly into three more-or-less equal portions (using a bundt pan, as I did, probably means the first layer should be smaller than the other two; a real tube pan wouldn’t narrow as much and might be more amenable to equally-portioned layers.

How much apple filling you have, of course, depends on the size of the original fruit. As the photo shows, I had a mix of larger and smaller pomes.

The recipe doesn’t say to grease/flour the pan, so I didn’t. The cake came out fine, but this may depend on your pan. We used one loaned by MT’s mom (thanks, Nanner!).

And I suggest heeding the advice to check the cake around 45 minutes. Mine was already getting very dark, and I’m not sure any more time would have changed the texture, though covering it with foil would have let me extend the baking time a bit. Of course, as previously noted, our old oven burns hot, and even with a thermometer in it, when checked after a little while, it was burning a few degrees hotter than the 400° required.

All that aside, this was delicious, and it made a great morning cake with coffee or tea the next few days. MT and I also tried toasting it in a toaster oven (on a tray, it was too moist and soft to toast on the rack) and I highly recommend it. But the highest praise came from my sister. She was in the West Hazleton homestead over the weekend and I took a chunk on a visit and left it for her. The text message:

“The Jewish apple cake is amazing, and I’m not a fan of apple desserts.”

Dobru chut!

Jewish Apple Cake (Uncle Jake’s Favorite Recipes)

5 apples, peeled and coarsely chopped

5 teaspoon cinnamon

5 tablespoons sugar

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

Juice of one orange (about ¼ cup)

Heat oven to 400°. Mix cinammon and 5 tablespoons of sugar together, then mix with apples.

In a separate bowl mix the remaining ingredients: flour, 3 cups sugar, baking powder, vegetable oil, eggs and orange juice.

Spread a thin layer of batter in a tube pan. Add a layer of apple filling. Repeat till full, finishing with batter. Bake at 400° for one hour. Check for doneness at about 45 minutes

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish