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.
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?
When ever 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 its 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.
**It’s best to use a Tube Pan with a Removable Bottom, it makes it much easier to get the cake out of the pan
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 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, its 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.
Kitchen tools I use for my cakes
- offset spatula (essential for bakers)
- 9-inch parchment cake circles
- silicone spatulas
- wire whisk
- mixing bowls
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love!
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 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1½ tsp cinnamon more can be used if you like cinnamon
CAKE
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 2½ tsp 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, 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 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- 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.
Nutrition
Bob g
I used 3 Granny Smith and 3 pink Ladies. Cake was delicious and a big hit with our guests.
Madison
Hi! This looks great, but I’m not concerned about keeping this kosher, so would it be possible to substitute any of the ingredients for butter, since I happen to have a lot of it on hand? I was going to try some substitutions with the Buttery Apple Cake recipe you also have on the website but I wanted to be sure, since the process looks very different.
Chef Dennis Littley
you can swap out the oil for butter, it shouldn’t be a problem. Just use the same amount of melted butter.
gail p
Can I use a bundt pan instead of an angel food tube pan?
Chef Dennis Littley
A 12 cup bundt pan should work, a 10 cup bundt pan might be a little too small
Ida Scherr
Just used this recipe today and it was the hit of the holiday get together. I used mackintosh apples and it tasted perfect.
Stacy
Can I freeze this?
Chef Dennis Littley
yes you can freeze the cake. Double wrap it in plastic and then in foil.
Kathy
I’m making the cake to serve Monday night for the holiday. How far ahead can I make it;what’s the best way to keep it?
Chef Dennis Littley
You can make it 2 days ahead of time. I wouldn’t let it sit any longer. Store it well covered in the refrigerator.
Kathy
I’ve been. weighing my baking ingredients… do you recommend using measuring cups or a food scale?
Chef Dennis Littley
weighing ingredients is a great practice, I still measure mine out using cups and spoons since not everyone has a scale
Kathy
Thank you. I found a conversion table. Your recipe is just like one I used to make. I will use this forth upcoming holiday.
Kathy
Can you use gluten-free flour for this recipe?
Chef Dennis Littley
I have not tried making this cake Gluten Free, so I’m not sure. Using a cup for cup GF flour blend it should be okay, but again I haven’t tried.
Gloria Miller
While in Alaska last month my 89 yr. old father fell in love with a Jewish apple cake in a Talkeetna bakery. The owner of the bakery gave me enough information to narrow her deliciousness to this recipe. I made almost exactly as written by Chef Denis, only change being to use a 12 c. bundt pan. Sifting the flour, adding room-temp eggs one at a time, and mixing everything by hand were key successes that Chef Denis emphasizes. My father loved this cake more than the one in Alaska! The only change I will make in the future is to increase the amount of chopped apples–from 5 cups to 6 cups, along with an increase of 1 T. sugar in their mix. I did use fuji apples, but they were large and I couldn’t go by number, but rather by cups. I will also probably increase the cinnamon in the apple mixture to 1 T and increase the salt in the dry mix by about 1/4 tsp.This recipe is a keeper that I will hopefully surprise my father with for some years to come. Thanks Chef Denis!!
Sandra
Found your recipe because I was looking all over for my copy, which was written on the back of an envelope 40+ years ago. I was sure I remembered everything, but decided to double check, since I’m making a watercolor illustrated cookbook of all of our favorites. I had never heard of making it in a bundt pan, though, news to me! I just put it in a glass baking dish(vegan margarined and floured)(trust me, it comes out just fine!). Pop it into the oven as usual. I don’t layer the apples and batter, I fold the apples in. And yes, it does look as though that could not possibly be enough batter. But it is!
And it is sooooo good! Thank you!
Michelle
Do you think coconut oil would work well in this recipe?
Chef Dennis Littley
it should work. The only issue I’ve ever had with coconut oil is if I refrigerate the baked good I made with it. Coconut oil firms up a lot more when it gets cold.
Cathy Love
Can I mix Athena type of apples I use in this recipe. I don’t have enough of the granny smith’s?
Chef Dennis Littley
you sure can, you can use any type of apple you like
Bevy
AS you mentioned in the opening about the recipe using oil, not butter because of dietary rules-the pan should also not be treated with butter, but rather margarine or even oil.
Pat
Bevy, I always grease my pan with Crisco shortening (not oil). I think it does a great job. Also, on this recipe, instead of using oil & flour, I use Crisco & a little mixture of sugar & a little cinnamon. It’s really good!
Michele
It was awesome! Crunching sugary crust and apples so tender. My husband’s favorite! Thanks Chef
Marcy Moore
Hi there! My Jewish Apple Cake was a disaster and im pretty sure i know why BUT…. I followed your recipe exactly and when it came out of the oven, i let it cool for about 20 minutes and then i attempted to take it out of the tube pan. Thats when it literally fell apart and most of the top stuck to the pan and it looks horrible. It tastes so so good i wish it wouldve looked so so good! It seemed like the cinnamon /sugar mixture from the apples made somewhat of a glue and it stuck to the pan. Maybe i attempted to take it out too soon? Any suggestions would be so appreciated. Thank you for this recipe, it tastes sooo good!!
Chef Dennis Littley
hi Marcy
my first thought would be that you let the cake cool too long before removing it from the pan. Did you butter and flour the pan first? The apples really should have gotten to the bottom of the pan if you started with a layer of the batter first, so I don’t know how they stuck to the pan.
When you try again, place a parchment cake circle in the bottom of the pan and don’t let it cool too long. I have a tube pan the bottom pushes out of, but you can also invert the cake onto a plate and then place another plate on the bottom and turn it right side up. Hopefully this will help.
Emily Thayer Campbell
This is the exact recipe a friend gave me years ago and I wanted to make today for Rosh Hashanah IF you’ll tell me how I might substitute honey for some or all of the sugar. Please advise and thanks so much for the possibility….
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m very sorry but I don’t bake using honey so I’m not sure what to tell you.
Susi
Is there any substitute for orange juice? It’s the only ingredient I don’t hv on hand?
Chef Dennis Littley
you can use apple juice
Jen
Whoops! I see that you addressed the oil question in a previous post. No need to reply to my earlier question. I will stay away from canola and try a different neutral oil.
Diana L Shifflett
I absolutely fell in love with this cake at first bite. My mother-in-law introduced it to me about ten years ago, and I praised her every time she baked it. We would always enjoy a slice with our morning coffee as we sat and chatted about life. Bless her heart, I miss how she would adamantly deliver her opinions and beliefs. She taught me a lot in life including, but not limited to, any cooking or baking skills i may have. With this recipe, she added walnuts and would warn me about the expense of those nuts. (LOL). On another note, I’d like to add that the cake is not (imo), overly sweet. The apples, sugar and cinnamon are a perfect ratio, therefore, no icing is needed. I recommend this recipe for any event, occasion or just an everyday dessert.
joan
I made the cake but the bottom and sides of the cake were very thick and tasted burnt. Does the pan have to be greased and floured?
Chef Dennis Littley
As specified in the instructions, yes you do need to grease and flour the pan, but that wouldn’t cause the bottom and sides to burn. That would come from too hot off an oven. Have you ever checked the temperature with an oven thermometer for accuracy?
Jen
Can the vegetable oil be substituted with canola oil, or will that significantly change the outcome of the cake?
Chef Dennis Littley
you sure can. Any mild flavored oil will work.
Dorothy
I make caramel glaze of brown sugar milk and butter. Boil until thick. Drizzle over cooled cake
YUM YUM!!