Apple Dapple Cake

Deborah Rood Goldman
Recipe by
Deborah Rood Goldman

A good friend found this recipe on a Jewish New Year handout from her daughter's preschool. The first time I tried the recipe – the afternoon of Erev Rosh HaShanah – the batter was so thick, I called her in a slight panic. She reassured me, explaining that it's an extremely thick batter that has to be spooned in clumps into the cake pan before baking. As it turns out, this is a dessert I can't resist, and admit to sampling the drippings from the caramel topping before the cake is served. Use fresh apples in the fall to serve it on Rosh HaShanahSukkot, and Simchat Torah.

Ingredients
CAKE:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 medium tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon vanilla
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TOPPING:
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk (or mocha mix, if pareve)
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions

For the cake

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 10-inch ring-shaped or Bundt baking pan.
  2. Sift flour with baking soda and salt.
  3. Cream oil with sugar until light; beat in eggs one by one. Fold in flour mixture in three batches. Stir in apples with vanilla. [Note: Batter will be extremely thick.]
  4. Spoon mixture into baking pan. Bake about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

For the topping

  1. Five minutes before the cake is done, combine topping ingredients in a saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring constantly. Boil until topping coats a spoon (about 3 minutes).
  2. Turn cake out onto rack while still warm. Pour topping over cake. Allow to cool.

Deborah Rood Goldman is a longtime member and immediate past president of the Garden City Jewish Center in Garden City, NY. She is a digital communications producer on the Union for Reform Judaism's marketing and communications team.  A native New Yorker, Deborah holds a bachelor’s degree in American civilization from Brown University and a master’s degree in library science from Queens College.