My Favorite Apple Cake For Rosh Hashanah
Shanah Tova!
I need fall—this year more than ever. We had a very hot summer in the Pacific Northwest with multiple 100+ heatwaves. When your summer high temperature is normally in the 80s and you don’t have any AC, those heatwaves are brutal. So as the summer starts to wind down, I am craving fall even more than I normally am. I has taken a lot of willpower to not pull out all the fall decorations the minute the calendar ticked over to September (I promised my husband I’d wait for it actually be fall). Portland typically gets late summers. While June weather can be iffy and rainy, September can be absolutely gorgeous. This is perfect for anyone who loves summer, but absolute torture for anyone counting the days until it’s sweater weather.
Fall is my favorite time of year, for a number of reasons. I love the fashion, I love crips mornings, changings leaves, all those quintessential fall flavors, and, of course, all the holidays! For me, one of the first things that makes me feel like a new season has arrived is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. When I am able, I will go temple but on year the holiday falls in the week (and I’m working), I still like to celebrate the new year with food! A delicious loaf of challah, some apples and honey, and cake.
This year, Rosh Hashanah is technically in late summer but that won’t stop me from enjoying enjoy a celebratory apple cake.
I first came across this apple cake recipe on the Orangette blog many years ago and fell in love. It's dense in texture without feeling heavy or too rich. Plus it is loaded with apples and reminds me more of a tart than a traditional cake. (In my personal opinion, it also makes an amazing seasonal breakfast and would be a great addition to a fall brunch). The original recipe is good but uses less spices than I use. I adapted it to include some of my other favorite flavors, make it my own, and bring in that dash of honey in honor of the Rosh Hashanah holiday. I recommend using fresh, locally sourced apples if they are available in your area, but the cake will still be delicious with store-bought apples too (I've found the tarter Granny Smith variety are the best easy-to-find apples for baking with).
When I say I love this cake, I really mean it. I could wax out poetically for pages about all the things I love about this cake. I won’t though… (mostly because I don’t have a widget that’ll allow you to jump straight to the recipe and we all know that’s the real reason you’re here). This recipe is super simple and super delicious. I really hope you love it as much as I do and became as much as of a fall tradition in your home as it is in ours.
Autumn Apple Cake
(Makes about 8 servings)
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
dash of allspace
5 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
1 tsp. vanilla extract (the real stuff)
1 large egg
3 large apples—peeled, cored and sliced thinly (I recommend Granny Smith or another green/tart cooking apple)
For the topping:
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted but slightly cooled
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. all spice
1 large egg.
Preheat oven to 350° and prepare a 9-inch springform pan with butter and flour. (I often just butter the bottom and forget to flour it without much trouble as I often do not remove the cake from the bottom of the pan, using it as a serving plate).
Using a food processor, combine most dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices. Mix lightly on the pulse function. Add butter and pulse until completely incorporated, leaving no large chunks. Add vanilla and egg and blend well. The dough will have the texture cornmeal or just slightly wet cornmeal (just so it sticks together, should be closer to a shortbread than a wet cake batter). Place dough in the springform pan, gently pressing it around to cover the bottom of the entire pan with a slight curve at the sides (resembling a crust). Lightly sprinkle with allspice (optional, I just really love allspice). Cover with apple slices in a round, tightly packing them in. It's a lot of apples and it might seem like it won't all fit, but keep squeezing the slices in till none are left.
Bake for 45 minutes.
While cake bakes, prepare the topping by combining all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Whisk with a small whisk (or fork) until it is all well blended. Once the cake has baked for 45 minutes, pour topping over the cake evenly. You can either spoon it over the top or (as I often do) pour and tilt around the springform pan to spread the topping. Be sure to hold the pan with an oven mitt while doing this, as it just came out of the oven and is very hot! Return cake to oven and bake for another 25 minutes or until topping is set (for me it's almost always set at 25 minutes mark, but if your topping isn't quite set yet, leave in oven checking every 2 minutes until the topping is set). Transfer to wire cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Take a knife around the edges of the pan to release any sticky bits from the side before removing the springform pan.
Serve with a drizzle of honey!
Tips: I think this cake is best at room temp and it keeps very well. I usually bake the night before I plan on eating it. I actually let it sit overnight to completely cool after removing from the pan and then just cover with foil or plastic wrap to keep it fresh.