Mom's Jewish Apple Cake

So no we're not Jewish. In fact, I was tempted to rename this, Mom's Italian Apple Cake, since we are in fact, Italian-Americans. But I need to give credit where credit is due and unfortunately Italian's can't claim this deliciously moist, rich and fruity cake. Darn.

I don't know who, where or how my mom came into possession of this particular recipe for Jewish Apple Cake, but it's been in her Land-o-Lakes recipe box for decades. Fortunately, the tattered index card is in a protective plastic sleeve so we're still able to enjoy this recipe as often as possible. She's made it countless times for birthdays, neighbors, friends and even a bake sale or two. It's a fairly simple cake to make and it turns out nearly perfect every time. And what makes it even more perfect is when it is made with locally grown, fresh-picked Maryland orchard apples.

I visited a local pick-your-own apple farm a few weekends ago and came home armed with a large bag of Ida Red apples - good for eating, but perfect for baking. These tart, yet sweet apples remain nice and crisp through the baking process and end up with a toothy bite.

They are really the perfect balance of tart, sweet and crisp that you need for a pie or cake. And this cake nestles these delicious apples in a cinnamon-sugar mixture and then envelopes them in dense and intensely moist batter. On top of that, I fortunately, had enough apples to make a hearty apple pie in addition to the apple cake. Gosh I love Fall!! And speaking of apples, here's a pic of the "apple" of my eye, my sweet baby girl :)

She's loving Fall too and I love all the great cutie patootie outfits out there for little babies. I love my girl and love dressing her up! That's her in her first pair of jeans and flannel for the season. Hats off to Fall! There's so many wonderful foods to come - squash, pumpkins, brussel sprouts, turkey, cheesecakes, soups. Strap on those elastic waistbands and let the fall eating begin!! Why not start with this cake? Enjoy!

Jewish Apple Cake


For the apples:
5 to 6 apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly
3/4 cup sugar
2 tb cinnamon

For the batter:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a tube pan for baking.
In a large bowl, toss your sliced apples with sugar and cinnamon and set aside. In a separate small bowl, mix together your dry ingredients - the flour, salt and baking powder. Then in a large mixing bowl combine your juice, eggs and oil until combined. Pour in the sugar and extract and mix until well incorporated. Now in your prepared tube pan, layer batter then apples then batter then apples and finishing up with a layer of batter. If you have any juices that have collected from your apples simply pour them into the cake once your done building up the layers. These sweet, cinnamony juices will contribute to the moistness of the cake.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the cake fills the tube pan and a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan and then remove and serve.