We’ve always said, there’s something about Jews and cake, but, even more, it’s Jews and apple cake. Despite having one in each of our four books, we needed a new recipe that ticked every single one of our many boxes. So we created our own. For us, this is the one.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) conventional. Line a 20 cm (8 in) springform cake tin.
- Roughly chop the apples into 1cm (½ in) dice. Place in a small ovenproof dish with the butter, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar and mix together. Roast for 40 minutes, basting from time to time, until just cooked through. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C (340°F) conventional.
- Put the sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat together for a minute or so to release the citrus oils. Add the butter and beat until very pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Using a spatula, fold it into the butter mixture, followed by the cream.
- Using the spatula, gently fold half of the roasted apples and any juices through the cake batter. Spoon into the prepared tin and scatter the remaining apples evenly on top. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Allow to cool and serve with whipped cream.
Recipe extracted from A Year of Jewish Cooking by the Monday Morning Cooking Club, Simon & Schuster
