It’s apple season: My recipe for the best Jewish apple cake ever

I had no idea why they call this cake what they do so I did some research.

There are two theories as to why “Jewish apple cake” has that name.

Number one is that the recipe is completely dairy free.

It uses orange juice instead of milk and oil instead of butter.

Thus making it appropriate for Jewish holidays.

Specifically Rosh Hashanah, since during that celebration of the Jewish New Year, apples are traditionally eaten.

Also, since Jews who adhere to kosher dietary laws do not consume dairy and meat products together, it makes sense that if our desserts generally do not contain dairy.

I probably should have posted this recipe before Rosh Hashanah which was already passed, but this is the time of year for apple desserts for everyone so I figured it was still appropriate to post.

My recipe also contains honey which is another traditional food eaten at the Rosh Hashanah table

Apple picking season is upon us and if you’re anything like me you probably picked one too many.

You can never have too many apples, however, as they take quite some time to go bad and they can also be used in a wide range of cooking.

Put your apples to use this year and join me in creating the most delicious Honey Apple Cake. Here is what you’ll need:

For the cake you will need:
3 large eggs
¾ cup honey
¼ cup orange juice
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 ¼ cups canola oil (replace with applesauce if you want more moisture)
1 ½ tsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp allspice
4 apples of choice

For the icing:
1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp water

This is definitely one of the more ingredient-intense cake recipes I've done, but each ingredient truly makes a difference.

When you have every ingredient you want to first preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Then shred all of your apples.

You can also cook them over the stove if you would prefer more of a softer consistency or less scattered chunks.

Combine the apples with the rest of the ingredients and place into a circular pan for the oven.

I like to use a bundt pan for this recipe so that the icing can fall beautifully, but anything goes.

You want to bake the cake for 75-80 minutes so this will definitely require a little bit of patience.

Let the cake cool before pouring your icing overtop and feel free to garnish with any other sweets.

Enjoy!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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