A deliciously different with an interesting ingredient that will keep everyone guessing
October 2, 2024 13:07When I was growing up, the highlight of Rosh Hoshanah, the Jewish New Year, was a fat slice of apple cake. It was a sweet and reliable part of the holiday. But as I got older and my palate developed, I started to feel like the cake fell a little flat. There was nothing playing with the apples to bring out some dimensionality. This version injects plenty of life with nutty rye flour, bittersweet caraway, and floral thyme. But the real force comes from root beer, which adds a strong and mysterious herbal note to the cake.
Serves 8
Ingredients:
150g (10 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
400g (14oz) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
225g (1 cup packed) light brown sugar
3 large eggs
360ml (1 ½ cups) root beer
100g (1 cup) plus 2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
100g (1 cup) rye flour
2 tsp baking powder
Kosher salt
Leaves from five fresh thyme sprigs
2 tbsp caraway seeds, ground
2 tbsp demerara (turbinado) sugar
For the thyme syrup
100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
8 fresh thyme sprigs
Method:
Recipe adapted from Second Generation: Hungarian and Jewish Classics Reimagined for the Modern Table (Harvest)
Jeremy is chef patron of Agi’s Counter