Just dipping a finger into the batter today planted me right in the middle of my mother’s kitchen, and the aroma wafting through the oven’s vents flooded my soul with the warmth of childhood, all the yah yah yah from those chefy judges suddenly a cliche no longer.
My mother took this recipe from An Apple a Day: Vegetarian Cookery by Doctors’ Wives, a cookbook whose subtitle promises little in the way of imagination or variety, and although it has its share of gluten-steak recipes there is in fact a wide range of great dishes; it is also the origin for my love of Lebanese food.
As usual this is not the exact recipe from said cookbook. My mother always tweaks, and always for the better. Since I didn’t make today’s cake for a family of six or a church potluck, I halved the recipe, used two 6” cake pans, and it baked just as well.
Fresh Apple Cake
Oven 350. Oil and flour a 9x12 pan.
4 cups peeled diced apples (my mom always just shreds hers. The texture is a little smoother when shredded; both are very good. If you dice, make sure to cut very small pieces, less than ¼”)
2 cups sugar (feel free to cut this down: I use 1½ cups and like the sweetness level much better)
2 eggs
½ cup oil (I often use 1/3 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
Dash nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
Blend oil, sugar, eggs. Add vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients and add along with apples. Mix quickly and thoroughly. Fold in nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Tomorrow night we’ll eat Joe’s cake with vanilla ice cream. I think this cake is most perfect with lightly sweetened cream, whipped soft so that it relaxes just a bit atop your slice.
