I grew up with a mother who cooked and baked and while we did, of course, buy things from a wonderful neighborhood bakery, there was nothing like walking into a house with that smell of fresh baking. I wanted my son to have this experience as well and so even though I volunteered and went back to graduate school and then eventually worked full-time while he was growing up, I still tried to bake as often as possible. When I had time, I might make something more difficult but I always had some easy recipes up my sleeves for those days when time was at a premium. Since both my husband and son were – and still are – such appreciative audiences, it was a pleasure to make this extra effort.

I found this recipe in a wonderful cookbook that I have gone back to over and over again and it was one of my first gifts to Frances and Matthew when they had their own apartment. Not only are the recipes incredibly accurate and easy to follow, but the stories that go along with the recipes are fun – and often enlightening – to read. This is a great cake to make any time but is a wonderful last minute dessert for Shabbat. You could also prepare the topping (except for the apples) the night before along with measuring out your dry ingredients. It will be a snap to throw this together before dinner. Left-overs are great the next day with a cup of coffee, tea or milk.

Spiced Apple Cake by Gloria Kaufer Greene from The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook.

Yield: About 9 servings

Ingredients

Filling and Topping

2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon

A pinch of Kosher salt

1 large or 2 small/medium sweet baking apple(s), like a Golden Delicious, peeled, cored and thinly sliced. Squeeze a few drops of fresh lemon juice over the apples to keep them from darkening.

Batter

1/2 cup of unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup apple cider or richly-flavored apple juice

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour (or half whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or spray a 9-inch (preferably non-stick) square baking pan.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the topping. I found that throwing the spices, sugar and nuts into a blender and pulsing the mixture to chop the nuts makes fast work of this. Set the mixture and the apple slices aside.
3. This can be done by hand but I find it makes for a lighter batter if I use an electric mixer. Cream the butter and 3/4 cups of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. one at a time and stir until well-combined. Add the spices and beat well. In a medium bowl, mix the flour with the baking soda, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Alternately add the cider and flour mixture to the batter, beating well after each addition.
4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the batter with half of the nut topping. Arrange all of the apples over the topping. Spread the remaining batter carefully over the apples and sprinkle the remaining topping over the batter. Gently press the nut topping into the batter with your fingertips.
5. Bake the cake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack. Cut into large squares. This can be eaten still warm, but not hot. Cover any left-overs with foil. For extra decadence, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.