For over a decade, on the Jewish New Year, I’ve baked Susie Fishbein’s absolutely divine apple cake from her book, The Kosher Palette. Over the years I’ve tweaked and played with my own gluten free and flexible version. (Truth: I never wait for New Year’s to bake this anymore, it’s just too good to wait). The dense batter bakes to buttery precision, and topped with honeyed apples, it combines to make the ideal ending to a meal.
New Year’s Apple Cake Worth Waiting For
Ingredients
For Apples:
- 4 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch wedges
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 larg eggs
- 2 tsp minced lemon zest
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp salt
For Topping:
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the pan with parchment on the bottom. Spray sides of the pan with oil spray.
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Cook the apples, honey, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat until softened, for 5 to 7 minutes, drain the liquids from the slices and set aside.
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For wet ingredients: With an electric mixer, beat the sugars, oil, and vanilla until blended. Add the eggs and zest and beat until all is incorporated but not overmixed.
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For dry ingredients: In a separate bowl whisk flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Add it to the wet batter and mix together well with a spatula or larges poon.
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Pour the batter into the prepared pan and fan the apples in 2 concentric circles to cover the batter. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle the mixture over the top.
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Bake the cake for about one hour, or until just set and lightly golden, then allow it to cool. Check often.
Recipe Notes
Nail This
The batter will look scarce, don’t freak out, it will rise.
You’ll need a 10-inch springform. If you use a smaller one, the cake will rise too high. If using a smaller pan just fill about 3/4 of the batter and reserve the rest for a mini torte.
You’ll notice the edges start to brown while the center is still soft. Watch carefully and remove when center is just set so you don’t burn the edges.
Flip it
Swap the apples out for sliced peaches or pears or even berries and make this year-round!
Leftover cooked apples? Fold them into muffins or pancakes!
If your batter is runny in the center (that’s happened to me more than once) it actually tastes super creamy and delicious spooned into a martini glass with a scoop of ice cream or coconut frosting (see page 00) on top.
Freezes extraordinarily well. Good emergency freezer cake for company!
