Hello lovelies! Each week, we at Romance Writers Weekly like to share something different with you. With Thanksgiving just around the corner for most of us, we’re each sharing our favourite seasonal dish. You’ve probably just popped over here from the lovely and talented Carrie Elks. Did you print out her recipe for her grandmother’s fabulous Christmas Pud?

applecake1I grew up in Philadelphia where the summers are so hot, you’d be crazy to go near your oven anytime between June and September.

My grandmother was queen of cold foods – pasta salads, potato salads, tuna salads, green bean salads (you get the idea) – and they got us through all that sweltering heat. But when the air turned crisp, and the leaves began to fall, it wasn’t be long before the heavenly scent of Gram’s Jewish Apple Cake filled the house.

There are so many apples packed into this thing, you could almost call it healthy. Almost.

You will need:

  • 6 cups peeled thinly sliced apples (about 3 large apples or 6 small apples) JewishAppleCake
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3 cups flour, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs (beaten)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or 1 cup chopped pecans (optional) – I love it with pecans!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 10 inch tube pan. Combine the butter, ground cinnamon, brown sugar (and the nuts, if you’re adding them) together with 2 tablespoons of flour and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and the rest of the sugar. Stir in the vegetable oil, eggs, orange juice and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Top with 1/2 of the sliced apples and sprinkle with 1/2 of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour the remaining batter over the top and layer the remaining sliced apples and cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 70 to 90 minutes.cake slice

Now here’s the most important part. Let it cool before you cut into it. The temptation will be great, I know, but trust me. You’ll regret cutting it before it’s had a chance to settle down. It’ll just fall apart on you, and what you want is a nice big slice, especially if you’re serving it at Thanksgiving dinner. Imagine the ooos and ahhs. There will be a lot of mmmms as well. In fact, you might want to make two of these bad boys.

That’s it for this installment! If you’ve already done the hop, we’ll see you next week. If not, head on over to see what Betty Bolte has cooked up!