Let Them Eat Apple Cake

Here's the recipe for that apple cake I made for Rosh Hashanah (it's pareve for those who keep kosher). I've heard that we can expect an exceptionally good apple crop this fall, so this is an ideal way to take advantage of that yumminess.

There's no photo to accompany the recipe, because my cake was delicious but not destined to win any beauty contests. I couldn't figure out why the recipe didn't call for the layers to go into the Bundt pan in reverse order, since the cake gets flipped over when it comes out. Sure enough, when I took the cake out of the oven, the top was all sugar-cinnamony-apple gorgeousness, but then I had to flip it over onto that side, and the new top (formerly the bottom) was just plain ol' brown. (Yes, I tried to turn it back over, but it was the wrong shape to sit that way.) Now I see that the recipe calls for a tube pan, not a Bundt pan, so it's surely meant to end up the same way it went in. In other words, you would unmold the cake onto your hand and then quickly put it back down on the cooling rack, still right-side-up. Update (9/30/09): A friend told me this morning that she made the cake in a tube pan and it turned out great! Update (9/17/12): This time I made it in my usual Bundt pan but with everything in reverse order, which worked OK except that some of the apples and cinnamon in the bottom of the pan (which turned out to be the top of the cake) got a little stuck. No one seemed to mind.

Apple Cake

2 cups sugar (divided use)
1 tsp cinnamon (I used a little more.)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
⅓ cup orange juice
2½ tsp vanilla
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (I used 4.)

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9- or 10-inch tube pan.

In a small bowl, mix ½ cup of the sugar and the cinnamon and set aside.

Sift the flour, the baking powder, and the remaining 1½ cups of sugar into a large bowl. Stir in the orange juice, vanilla, eggs, and oil; mix until smooth.

Layer ¼ of the batter in the pan—it will be gloppy, but you can spread it out as needed with damp fingers—followed by ¼ of the apple slices and then ¼ of the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Repeat the layers 3 more times, making sure the top layer will look pretty for the camera.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. (I had to tent the top with foil and let it go another 5 minutes.) Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan before unmolding onto a rack to cool completely. You might need to run a knife around the edges of the pan and the tube to loosen it up before unmolding.

Comments

[Amy]

Oooh! I made apple cake too!

[Rachel]

Cool, I'm gonna try this one for Sunday night. Thanks!

[Kerri]

So are you saying you think it would have worked OK with switching the order when using a bundt pan? I would love to make this but don't have a tube pan!

[Elisson]

May you have a sweet and healthy New Year.

G'mar v'chatimah tovah.