Oh, the fond memories I have of my mom's Jewish apple cake recipe. The cooler temperatures of autumn have arrived, the leaves are just beginning to change color, and I'm craving a big slice of this childhood favorite.
This delicious cake is layered with scrumptious fall apples, then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and baked to perfection. Mom tells me that this recipe was given to her by a friend many years ago, and now she's passed it down to me...the way all good family traditions begin. Thanks mom!
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π€ Why is it called Jewish apple cake?
Although we were raised Catholic, this is a family favorite recipe. And I just recently learned that Jewish apple cake is popular in the area I grew up in. We lived in southern New Jersey, around the Philadelphia area, and apparently this is a popular dessert in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania-Delaware region, having been brought to the area by Ashkenazi Jews from Poland.
It's made without any dairy products at all, which makes it acceptable to eat with meals that contain meat during the Rosh Hashanah holiday (the Jewish dietary laws of kashrut forbid the mixing of meat and milk products in the same meal). This is just what I learned online, so if I'm incorrect in any of this, please let me know.
While my mom's best Jewish apple cake recipe is pretty easy and straightforward, there are a few tips you'll want to know along the way, so keep reading...
β Tip #1: Use a tube pan
You'll want to use a tube pan with a removable bottom for this recipe. It's a pretty dense cake and you may not be able to remove it from the pan very easily if you use a Bundt pan instead.
π What kind of apples should I use?
You can use whatever apples you enjoy! For my recipe, I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp, to get a nice sweet-tart combination.
π§Ύ Ingredients
- Apples
- Cinnamon sugar (β cup sugar mixed with 1-ΒΌ teaspoons cinnamon)
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Eggs
- Neutral oil
- Orange juice
- Vanilla extract
- Vegetable shortening and extra flour for greasing pan
See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.
π₯£ Make the cake batter
Preheat oven to 325Β°F. Grease and flour tube pan.
Peel, core, and cut apples into 12 thick slices each. Place in a bowl, sprinkle over about one-third of the cinnamon sugar mixture, and toss together with your hands.
While this cake recipe can be mixed by hand, it's a very thick batter, so I decided to let my stand mixer to do the hard work for me. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl (except apples and cinnamon sugar mixture) and mix together until the batter is smooth.
β Tip #2: Thick cake batter
This cake batter will be VERY thick (it's one of the thickest batters I've ever worked with, aside from my mint chocolate ganache cheesecake, that is) and you won't be able to simply pour it into the pan. Following mom's recommendation (which works really well), use a large serving spoon to spoon the batter into the pan instead.
π₯ Layering the cake in the pan
Spoon about half of the cake batter into the bottom of your greased and floured tube pan.
Arrange half of the sliced apples on top of the batter, then sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Next, add the remaining batter, then another layer of apples, then finish the top with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
The layers of batter will be quite thin, and even with all the layering, the pan will only be filled about halfway...don't worry, it will rise while baking.
β²οΈ Baking
Bake in the oven for 1-Β½ hours or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out mostly clean (don't overbake or it may become dry).
β Tip #3: How to remove the cake from the pan
Let cool on the counter for about 15 minutes. Then gently slide a butter knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan. Prop it up on top of a large can (like a large can of whole tomatoes) and drop the sides off the pan. Place it back on the countertop and run a knife between the cake bottom and the bottom of the pan. Carefully but quickly invert the cake onto a plate (to remove it from the tube), then invert it again onto another plate, so it's right-side up.
π§Ί Storage
Store covered on the counter for several days. Serve warm with a steaming mug of of coffee and enjoy.
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Did you make this Jewish Apple Cake recipe? Let us know in the comments below!
π Recipe
Mom's Jewish Apple Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 12 thick slices
- β cup cinnamon sugar (β cup sugar mixed with 1-ΒΌ teaspoons cinnamon)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup neutral oil
- ΒΌ cup orange juice
- 2 Β½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Vegetable shortening and extra flour for greasing pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325Β°F.
- Grease and flour tube pan.
- Peel, core, and cut apples into 12 thick slices each. Place in a bowl, sprinkle over about one-third of the cinnamon sugar mixture, and toss together with your hands.
- Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl (except apples and cinnamon sugar mixture) and mix together until the batter is smooth.
- Spoon about half of the cake batter into the bottom of your greased and floured tube pan.Β
- Arrange half of the sliced apples on top of the batter, then sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.Β
- Next, add the remaining batter, then another layer of apples, then finish the top with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
- Bake in the oven for 1-Β½ hours or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes outΒ mostlyΒ clean (donβt overbake or it may become dry).
- Let cool on the counter for about 15 minutes. Then gently slide a butter knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan. Prop it up on top of a large can (like a large can of whole tomatoes) and drop the sides off the pan. Place it back on the countertop and run a knife between the cake bottom and the bottom of the pan. Carefully but quickly invert the cake onto a plate (to remove it from the tube), then invert it again onto another plate, so itβs right-side up.
- Store covered on the counter for several days. Serve warm with a steaming mug of of coffee and enjoy.
Notes
- What kind of apples should I use? You can use whatever apples you enjoy! For my recipe, I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp, to get a nice sweet-tart combination.
- Use a tube pan: You'll want to use a tube pan with a removable bottom for this recipe. It's a pretty dense cake and you may not be able to remove it from the pan very easily if you use a Bundt pan instead.
- The cake batter is thick: This cake batter will be VERY thick (it's one of the thickest batters I've ever worked with, aside from myΒ mint chocolate ganache cheesecake, that is) and you won't be able to simply pour it into the pan. Following mom's recommendation (which works really well), use a large serving spoon to spoon the batter into the pan instead.
- How to remove the cake from the pan:Β Let cool on the counter for about 15 minutes. Then gently slide a butter knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan. Prop it up on top of a large can (like a large can of whole tomatoes) and drop the sides off the pan. Place it back on the countertop and run a knife between the cake bottom and the bottom of the pan. Carefully but quickly invert the cake onto a plate (to remove it from the tube), then invert it again onto another plate, so it's right-side up.
- Storage: Store covered on the counter for several days.
- Suggestion: If you enjoy this, then you're gonna love our apple cider muffins with cinnamon streusel!
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Donna
Hard to believe but I have been using this exact recipe for YEARS. I also live in the South Jersey/Philadelphia region. I make this every year in the Fall! My family and friends rave about my Jewish Apple Cake. The only difference is that my recipe calls for Golden Delicious apples. They tend to soften nicely, but hold their shape. Also, after removing the sides of the tube pan i let the cake rest another 15 minutes before running a knife under it and removing from the tube. It was a nice surprise to see this your recipe was exactly the same as mine. A real winner.
maplewoodroad
Hi Donna! That's incredible! It must be a south Jersey recipe from way back. Who knew?! π
Nadia
This cake was delicious! Made it took it to our neighborβs house for dinner and we couldnβt stop talking about it. I did change a few things based on my familyβs preference (and cake pans available). First thing I did was cut the sugar in half, my husband is not a super sweet dessert guy. I also used melted butter instead of oil (didnβt have enough neutral oil). I know that makes it not ok for Rosh Hashanah, but I wasnβt making it for that. The thing was I didnβt have a tube pan so I used a spring form pan. I wish I did have a tube pan, it would have cooked more evenly. The center of the cake with the spring form pan really did take a long time. It was delicious and definitely worth making. Thanks for such an amazing recipe! Iβve already shared it with lots of people!
maplewoodroad
Thank you so much! So glad you all enjoyed it so much and love your ingenuity in making it your own! This is my mom's recipe and we always got excited when she would make it. Hope it becomes a tradition in your home too. π
Gwen
Oh wow, what a beauty! I love apple cake but I have never seen one look so lovely! Pinning this, and I will try it after we visit the orchard first of October. Thanks for sharing!
maplewoodroad
Thank you so much! And enjoy! π