The Polish Apple Cake Caper

March 30, 2012

I love to cook - mostly desserts. There is just something wonderful about the smell of baking pies, cakes, and all of those yummy calorie filled foods you want to eat before dinner but are not supposed to. I was walking around the cookbook section at the Red Bridge Branch and came across Jewish Food: for Festivals and Special Occasions by Marlena Spieler. What a neat book: great pictures, wonderful recipes, and a whole series of informational articles about each of the Jewish festivals and their significant food. As someone that always associates food with my mood, the very idea of this book struck a chord. 

The recipe I decided to obsess about was a wonderful sounding Polish Apple Cake. It was even kosher, not that I follow, but still it was great! The recipe was a strange one with no milk or butter. So instead, I used orange juice and oil. With some flour, salt, eggs, and vanilla, it made a wonderfully thick batter that tasted great on the spoon! I hear you are not supposed to eat raw dough off of a spoon, but in my kitchen, we tend to ignore that for the awesome uncooked goodness of cookie dough and cake batter! 

After making the batter, you spread about 3/4s of it in a pan, then add a layer of cinnamon/sugar apple slices. I used a mandolin to cut them uniformly thin...what a scary little machine that is! Be careful if you ever find yourself using one! After the layer of cinnamon/sugar apples, you add the rest of the batter, add another layer of cinnamon apples, and bake until golden and beautiful...well, that is what they says will happen! I used the wrong pan, so I got golden brown and hard as a rock...who knew? Undeterred I tried again, this time with a different pan that was also incorrect, but I thought would work. Unfortunately, the second attempt didn't cook all the way through. So, it was also a bust. Baking, and especially baking well, is all about following directions. I learned this time that means pans as well. Oh well, just another moment in life to learn and try again!

Check out Jewish Food: for Festivals and Special Occasions by Marlena Spieler for more great recipes.

Katie L
Red Bridge Branch