Sweet strains of cinnamon, sugar and apple resonate throughout this simple, quintessentially Fall apple cake. Showing your love has never been easier.
You may know this as Jewish Apple Cake. Or Irish Apple Cake. For me, it will always be the Best. Care Package. Ever.
Let’s set the scene. Your baby left home three weeks ago. He/she proudly donned their new college sweatshirt, packed the car within an inch of its life and jauntily waved goodbye as they drove off into their bold, bright future. The house is quiet. The beds stay made. Your loads of laundry and dirty dishes are cut in half. YOUMISSYOURBABY!!!!!!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world (seemingly,) your baby has fun-tacked their dorm walls with one hundred posters of their new favorite bands, engaged in several deep conversations about the Meaning of Life with their new roommate and performed the first of many risk-taking behaviors no mother wants to think about. But guess what. YOURBABYMISSESYOUTOO!!
[clickToTweet tweet=”Show your love and eat it too with this traditional apple cake #recipe.” quote=”Tweet this apple cake recipe to your loved ones.” theme=”style1″]
Enter Triple the Love Apple Cake.
Send this cake to your child immediately and you effortlessly triple the love because:
- You get to express your fathomless, soul-stirring, cinnamon-flavored love for your baby.
- Your baby gets to experience that love viscerally. Where it counts. In their belly.
- News of the cake’s arrival travels swiftly and seriously boosts baby’s status with the new roommate. And suite mates. Not to mention the folks on the second floor, the hard-ass RA and the cute co-ed from south campus.
Traditional Apple Cake Recipe
Every family has this recipe, or one like it, in their archives. It’s what you do with it that counts.
This recipe here, for instance, has been in my family longer than I have. Which is saying something. I must’ve devoured at least twenty of these cakes throughout my lifetime. But the one my mom made, packed up in a box and sent to me in my dorm room in Washington, DC? That one stands out. And if I, me, my middle-aged-self actually remembers something from that long ago? That means it was pretty darn special. It’s probably why I turned out so awesome.
There is, however, one downside. If you send it to your child at college, they don’t get to experience the heavenly aroma that emanates from the kitchen while you’re baking it.
Which is why you should really make it again when they’re home for Thanksgiving.
- 4 large apples
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup neutral cooking oil I use grapeseed.
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup orange juice no pulp.
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Peel, core and slice apples thickly.
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Add cinnamon and sugar to apples and let sit.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Grease and flour tube pan.
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Combine next six ingredients (flour through orange juice) in a mixing bowl.
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Stir well.
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Pour thin layer of batter into prepared tube pan.
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Layer in about 1/2 of the apples taking pains to distribute as evenly as possible.
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Pour another layer of batter.
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Layer in the rest of the apples.
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Finish up with the batter.
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Bake at 350 for one to one and a half hours until toothpick (or long thin knife) inserted into the middle comes out clean.
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Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack about 10 to 20 minutes, at least until you can handle the pan.
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Turn out onto a plate then re-invert onto cake plate (so that the top while baking is also the top now.)
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Dust with powdered sugar (optional.)
** Batter is unusually thick and sticky. If you're like me and you're always convinced you're doing it wrong, see video in post.
** Cake will bake more quickly in a dark colored metal tube pan than the one pictured in this post (lightly colored non-stick coating.) The difference could be about a half an hour. Check for color and doneness accordingly.
** Apples will produce some juice if they marinate in the cinnamon and sugar long enough. Feel free to add it to the batter as you layer the apples in.
Alexandra says
October 29, 2015 at 7:29 amHey Christine! I love this post 🙂 It’s so sweet. Being that I’m on the other side of this mother-child spectrum you speak of, I can vouch for the immeasurable power of mom’s home cooking. The cake looks beautiful!
Christine says
October 30, 2015 at 7:31 amHi Alexandra, I have a feeling you left this comment a while ago and it got held up by spam filters. Grrrr. Anyway, thanks for the lovely sentiments. I’m reading Michael Pollan’s Cooked right now and it’s reinforcing my understanding of the power of a home cooked meal. Great read!
Abida says
October 17, 2015 at 1:57 pmOmg, that first picture is so tempting! I will confess that I actually prefer apple in fall desserts to pumpkin! Many congrats on recent good news in your twitter updates, glad to see the hard work getting deserved recognition!!
Christine says
October 17, 2015 at 2:26 pmThanks Abida and I have a stronger taste for apple as well.
Mayuri Patel says
September 28, 2015 at 10:08 amLovely tempting apple cake. I remember when I use to make and bake food for my daughter to share with her college mates. Food definitely made her popular. I am glad to say most of those friends are still very much her support 10 years later.
Christine says
September 28, 2015 at 10:29 amThat’s so great. Same here! We’re spread out geographically but still tight emotionally.
Winnie says
September 27, 2015 at 5:40 amSimple but MOST DELICIOUS cake!!
Apple desserts are my family favorites and I LOVE cinnamon. So for me apple+cinnamon is the best combination.
Christine says
September 27, 2015 at 7:08 amI completely agree
Take Two Tapas says
September 22, 2015 at 8:42 pmI’d definitely rather eat my apples like this rather than raw like I’m supposed to!
Christine says
September 22, 2015 at 9:42 pmI hear you love. Even raw sprinkled with cinnamon is pretty good tho.
itsswayam says
September 21, 2015 at 1:19 pmThis is soo great C!! LOVED reading the post… Awww.. I can imagine how much ur missing your baby. I miss babyD when i goto work too 🙁 As for the cake, lets just say if this doesnt make him popular in his new abode, nothing will. PS : Another thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving 🙂
Christine says
September 21, 2015 at 5:54 pmMy oldest is actually in 8th grade. I guess the pov on this post is a little confusing. But the sentiment stands. And I will be a puddle of mixed emotions when he leaves us for greener pastures.
Sarah says
September 19, 2015 at 10:00 amI live for cakes like this! Nothing gets me into the fall spirit more than apple based recipes. I may not have a grown kid in college, but I do have a husband with the world’s biggest sweet tooth who would go crazy over this. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Christine says
September 19, 2015 at 12:02 pmI hope he loves it! Happy Fall.
Julie is Hostess At Heart says
September 19, 2015 at 9:46 amThis cake looks amazing! I am sure if this baby showed up on my dorm floor I would have been the most popular girl!
Christine says
September 19, 2015 at 12:01 pmIt definitely helped!
Razena | Tantalisemytastebuds.com says
September 18, 2015 at 2:50 pmThe texture of this cake reminds me of one my late aunt used to make but the apple went on the top and then she poured on some kind of cream mixture that tasted like caramel when it was done baking.
I would love to taste that again and will try this for sure. It looks amazing and I can see why it would warm the cockles of any heart. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Christine says
September 18, 2015 at 4:00 pmThanks so much for this kind comment and for being persistent with my comment box. I really appreciate it. The cream thing that caramelizes…I want that!
peter @feedyoursoultoo says
September 18, 2015 at 1:52 pmI love that you get a surprise when you get to the inside!
Christine says
September 18, 2015 at 1:56 pmHa, exactly!
Cassandrea from Chews and Brews says
September 18, 2015 at 10:05 amWoah! Looks awesome! I just love the chunks of apples you get inside the cake!! I have to try!
Christine says
September 18, 2015 at 10:06 amThe chunks of apples and the way the top gets crusty are my favorite things about this cake! Let me know if you give it a try.
Lauren O'Neil says
September 17, 2015 at 7:53 pmYour apple cake recipe reminds me (& my husband! after mentioning yours) of a delicious apple cake recipe I used to make from a small SF neighborhood restaurant…this one had a caramel glaze
Christine says
September 17, 2015 at 8:43 pmohmygaaawwd! that sounds so good. I tried doing a sugar kind of glaze on the bottom of the pan of this once but it didn’t work. It just got sticky. caramel sounds crazy!!
Jane @ littlesugarsnaps says
September 17, 2015 at 12:58 pmYou are so right, Christine. The recipe lurking in my family is a certain chocolate cake that’s three generations strong. This apple cake looks though fab, I think my hubster would like it if I made him one. Fortunately I have a few more years before my home will be permanently tidy instead of a persistent mess.
Christine says
September 17, 2015 at 1:03 pmI hear you Jane. I will be an absolute puddle.
dstein4000 says
September 17, 2015 at 12:27 pmThis looks so amazing! Is there a cherished family recipe for the gluten free version? I’ve never seen oj in an apple cake recipe before.
Christine says
September 17, 2015 at 1:01 pmI do wonder how this would work with almond flour but have not tested it. I’ll get on that 😉