Jewish Apple Cake is one of my favorite food memories from my high school years. It was one of the cakes that the girls made in Home EC as a project. A lot of you probably have never heard of Home Ec either.
I could always count on the new class making Jewish apple cake, and thankfully I was always asked to sample the cakes the girls in the class made.
This cake truly is an American Classic and is definitely a cake that you need to make. Trust me on this one. Your friends and family will love you forever when you serve them a slice of this delicious apple cake!
What is a Jewish Apple Cake?
A Jewish Apple Cake is a dense cake made with apples. Suspected to have originated in Poland, this delicious cake was well known in the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
The Cake is made with vegetable oil, unlike many American cakes, which are usually made with butter. Because it doesn’t contain any dairy products, the cake can be eaten after a meat meal under the Jewish dietary laws that prohibit mixing meat and milk.
Did I mention it’s Ah-mazingly Delicious!
What ingredients do I need to make a Jewish Apple Cake?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make a Jewish Apple Cake. In Chef Speak this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Why use oil in this cake instead of butter
The use of oil instead of butter makes the cake pareve, meaning Jewish families who observe Jewish dietary laws can serve it at either meat or dairy meals.
Oil cakes also tend to bake up loftier with a more even crumb, and they stay moist and tender longer than cakes made with butter. Cakes made with butter will taste better, but for this cake, oil is definitely a good choice.
How do I make a Jewish Apple Cake?
Start by prepping the apples.
In a large bowl, toss the chopped apples with the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
What kind of apples should I use?
Whenever anyone mentions baking and apples, the first thought turns to Granny Smith. It may be sacrilege, but I don’t like those apples. And because I’m baking for my family, I use the kind of apples I like.
These are the apples I like to use for baking:
- Gala
- Fuji
- Honeycrisp
- Pink Lady
- Winesap
- Jonathon
This is how you should approach recipes. Use ingredients that you like, not necessarily what the recipe calls for (if it’s an easy substitution).
Prepare the Cake Batter.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir to combine with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition (the batter will start out very thick but will get looser and easier to mix as you continue to add the eggs).
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that all of the ingredients are fully incorporated.
Prepare the tube pan with butter (or margarine) and flour before adding the cake batter to the pan. Lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper will also help with the release.
Add a thin layer of the cake batter to the bottom of the pan, then add one-quarter of the apples on top of the batter.
Add one-quarter of the remaining cake batter over the top of the apples, spreading it with a rubber spatula.
The batter will not completely cover all of the apples (it will spread when baking). Really, it will… I promise.
Repeat this process two more times with the remaining apples and cake batter, ending with a layer of cake batter.
Remember, the batter will not completely cover the apples. Don’t worry, it’s okay… trust me, I’m a chef.
Okay, I admit I had my doubts. It’s been decades since I made a Jewish Apple Cake, but it came out better than expected. And the house smelled of apples and a time long gone.
Do I have to use a Tube Pan?
That’s really a tough question; I would use a tube pan aka angel food pan if you have one. If not, a 12-cup bundt pan should work; a 10-cup bundt pan might be cutting it too close.
Food stirs memories, and this delicious cake certainly brought me back to a simpler time when a delicious slice of cake on the bus home from school made me happy.
How do I get the cake out of the pan?
Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15-20 minutes before attempting to remove it. Do not let the cake cool completely before removing it.
Most cakes are best unmolded from their pan while they are still warm; otherwise, they may stick to the pan.
If the cake won’t come out of the pan, place the pan on a stove burner on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. That will help the cake release from the pan.
FAQ Jewish Apple Cake
I suggest a tube pan with a removable bottom. These pans are also used for angel food cakes.
You can use a 12-cup bundt pan to make this cake. A 10-cup pan may be too small.
Traditionally, everyone suggests Granny Smiths. Personally, I don’t like them. I suggest using Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, and Pink Lady. Winesap or Jonathon.
This apple cake is often made on Rosh Hashana to celebrate the eating of a new fruit such as apples. The use of oil makes the cake pareve, meaning Jewish families who observe Jewish dietary laws can serve it at either meat or dairy meals.
Yes, you can. Oil will make a higher, more tender cake that will last longer, but a butter cake will taste better.
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Jewish Apple Cake
Ingredients
APPLES
- 6 medium Gala or Fuji apples (frozen peeled apples work too) peeled, cored and rough cut from ½ inch to 1 inch. (4½ – 5 cups of peeled apples)
- 5 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoon cinnamon more can be used if you like cinnamon
CAKE
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 2½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.*Place a cake circle with a cut out for the tube pan in the bottom of the pan. This will make it easier to remove from the pan.
Prepare the Apples
- In a large bowl, toss the chopped apples with the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Prepare the Cake Batter
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, zest and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir to combine with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition (the batter will start out very thick, but will get looser and easier to mix as you continue to add the eggs). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that all of the ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Add a thin layer of the cake batter to the bottom of the pan, then add one-quarter of the apples on top of the batter. The batter will not completely cover all of the apples (it will spread when baking). Really, it will… I promise.
- Repeat this process two more times with the remaining apples and cake batter, ending with a layer of cake batter.
- Place the cake in a 350 degree F preheated oven on the center rack in the middle of the oven.
- Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.Baking times can vary depending upon your pan, and your oven. Start checking the cake at 1 hour 10 minute mark. One of my ovens took 1 hour 30 minutes, while another took 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before serving and enjoy!
- Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then carefully remove the cake from the pan. Letting it cool too long in the pan will make it difficult to remove.**Run a knife along the edges of the cake and the pan to help it release from the pan.
Anna
I love this cake! I baked it first for Rosh Hashannah dessert, and now bake it for all the fall holidays! It routinely ranks #1 dessert at every dinner I bring it to.Thank you <3
Dave
Hi. I make apple cake regularly and have wondered what others do with the juice that macerates (releases) from the apples after the sugar and cinnamon are added.
Chef Dennis Littley
The apples aren’t sitting long enough to release that much juice. You don’t want them to either. That juice belongs in the cake being release naturally as it bakes.
Dave
Thank you for the response. For me, there’s normally a couple tablespoons no matter how quickly I try to mix the batter after combining the apples with the sugar (I mix by hand). I usually layer it in with the apples to avoid wasting the cinnamon. Perhaps it’s the Granny Smiths I use 🙂
Lynn
So I made this cake and thought it was delicious. My family thought there was way too much orange flavor. The cake baked thoroughly in 65 minutes, not 90 and was very moist and delicious. So keep an eye on it, just in case. So, depending on your love/hate of orange flavoring, maybe adjust that a bit. I also used all coconut oil and 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar in the batter and it was great. (A friend who makes the best Jewish apple cake I’ve ever eaten made those suggestions to keep the cake moist) Her recipe is almost identical to this one, but NO orange added. I would def make this again with either no orange or 1/2 the amount and no zest. My DIL took the leftovers to work and said it was “a huge hit -devoured and everyone loved it and raved about it”. I also added a vanilla cinnamon glaze (1 cup confectioner’s sugar with 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon with 3 T heavy cream) as I have a wicked sweet tooth 🙂 as drizzled it over the top.
Lynn
P.S. On the cake falling apart – I used a tube pan, 9″ with vegetable shortening and flour to prevent sticking and took it out literally 10 minutes after cooling and it held together very well
John Zimmer
Such a delicious recipe! My only alteration is to add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cardamom to the dry ingredients for the batter, as cardamom is wonderful and enhances the orange and apple! (And just a bit of ground clove to the sugar and cinnamon mixture for the apples – like an 1/8 of a teaspoon. But this is, of course, optional!) 🥰
Bernice Mellman
How to add honey instead of all the sugar?
Chef Dennis Littley
I’ve never used honey in this recipe so I’m not sure how to make the exchange.
John Zimmer
Honey is much sweeter than sugar, so a ratio of 1/2 to 2/3 cup of honey to 1 cup of sugar, per an internet search. Also, honey is a liquid where sugar is dry, so it would probably effect the texture and perhaps the baking time of the cake. I would still only use sugar for the cinnamon and apple part, though. The only way to know for sure is to try it! The worst that could happen is a sweet “flop” that you’ll learn from! If you do try it, please share your results with us here, too; thanks! 😀
Pat Lewis
I have thought that chemically, honey and sugar are the same.
Chef Dennis Littley
It depends on the type of sugar as well as the type of honey. They are interchangeable to a degree, but can cause different chemical reactions.
Stacy
How long will it keep at room temperature? Otherwise, does it freeze well? I’m looking forward to making this, but need to make it a few days ahead of serving and not sure if it will keep or if I can freeze and then thaw.
Chef Dennis Littley
the cake does freeze well. If you don’t want to freeze it, keep it well-covered and refrigerated until the day you’re serving the cake, 2-3 days should be fine.
Penny
I can’t seem to find my delicious Jewish Apple Cake recipe that I haven’t made for years; thus I was looking on the internet for a recipe for the upcoming holiday and came across this recipe by Chef Dennis. I just loved all the positive comments, the personal replies by Chef Dennis, and how other bakers helped each other. I believe I may use half oil and half applesauce, and Swerve granulated sugar replacement, to cut some of the calories in my recipe. My question is this: Can I get the same delicious results if I use self-rising flour (cutting out the salt and baking powder) rather than all-purpose flour? Thank you in advance.
Chef Dennis Littley
using self-rising flour and eliminating the salt and baking powder in lieu of all-purpose flour should work. As for the other adjustments, I’ve never tried them and can’t be sure they would work. Baking is part chemistry and when you start swapping sugar and oils it can adversely affect the end result.
rose
PLEASE…more info about removing from pan. I don’t want to have the tube stay in the middle of the cake when serving
Chef Dennis Littley
did you grease and flour the entire pan, including the tube?
If the cake won’t come out of the pan, place the pan on a stove burner on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. That will help the cake release from the pan. You can also line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Gloria
I made this cake and it was delicious. The problem was that the apples rose to the top of the cake as it baked. Nowhere else. How do I keep the apples throughout the cake?
Thank you.
Chef Dennis Littley
try dusting them with a little flour next time, that will help them remain in place. Usually the dough is too thick and the apples don’t move.
Missy
This is absolutely delicious. Instead of adding the cinnamon and sugar to the apples, I sprinkled a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar atop of each of the layers of apples which was a wonderful addition.
Alberta
I’ve been making this delicious cake for a few years. It tastes very much like the absolutely delicious apple cake my bubbie used to make – and she died in 1956! The consistency of the cake part of hers was something between a cake and a pie crust – more like a cake than a pie crust. I’ve considered experimenting with the proportions of the ingredients to try to replicate that consistency but I’m not sure where to start. Any suggestions? Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!!! It has been passed on to my daughter and my great neice.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the cake, and your Bubbie’s version must have been amazing. For it tome more like pie crust, I’m wondering if she used Crisco instead of oil, that would definitely change the texture, but other than that I’m not sure.
Jeannette
This is an amazing cake. Thank you for sharing it…I am right back in NJ in my favorite Aunt’s kitchen, she even let me help make it a few times but the recipe was lost. I am so happy to have it back! I did have a question—CanI use nectarines or peaches instead of apples to make it more summery?
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear my cake brought back memories of your Aunt’s kitchen! I would think using peaches or nectarines would be an easy substitution. They do have more juice in them, which would be my only concern, but the batter is pretty heavy so it should be able to handle it.
Missy
I made this recipe and used peaches which was delicious. Because the peaches are moister it takes longer to bake.
Holley
Thank you so much for this recipe! I never added the orange or oil before wasn’t too sure about it but it came out great this is definitely something I can bring for dinner parties year round. We went through the whole cake the first night I’m making another one now 🙂
Paula Lusby
I was asked by my niece to make a Jewish apple cake for her wedding she has 150 people invited. I would Appreciate so much any suggestions for keeping it moist in a larger round pan.
Chef Dennis Littley
this cake is too dense to make in a large pan; that’s why a ring pan is used to bake it. You’ll end up having to overcook the sides of the cake to get the middle done. It will also be difficult to move, once baked.
Svetlana
Hi! Just came across this beautiful recipe and I had a few questions before giving it a try. Is it possible to mix apples with the batter and then pour it into the pan? would that change anything? and.. Can I bake it in a 9×13 pan? Thanks! It looks absolutely delicious!
Chef Dennis Littley
you can fold the apples into the batter. The batter should fit into a 9×13 but you may have some issues with the center still be uncooked or the edges of the cake overdone to get the middle fully cooked. It’s a very dense heavy batter.