Traditions
I didn’t grow up in a Jewish household. I didn’t grow up in a household with any sort of religion at all, really. But now, all grown up, with children of my own, I look forward to the couple times a year when I can celebrate the Jewish holidays with my mother who is Jewish and has become more so over the years. We gather at her house for Passover and Rosh Hashanah and celebrating the holiday becomes more about having a nice meal together than anything else. She makes her brisket with lima beans, matzah ball soup, roast chicken with carrots, and then for dessert she makes this Apple Torte. It is a cake that you will hanker for, it is a cake that a friend of mine from 35 years ago, when she “friended” me on Facebook asked about, it is a cake that is really like no other. And what makes it even more special, is that it is from a little cookbook that no one has ever heard about. My mother was reticent to share the recipe with me and who knows how she will react when she discovers that I have shared the recipe with you. But here it is and I hope that it can become a tradition in your household as well.
APPLE TORTE
Part 1.
1/4 lb. butter
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose pre-sifted flour
2 large eggs
2 tsps. baking powder
8 to 10 large Macintosh apples
Melt butter in a saucepan; add sugar gradually, beating well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly. Add the flour, which has been combined with baking powder. Beat the mixture well. Spread on bottom of 9-inch spring form pan. Pare and core apples and cuts in quarters or eighths. Stand apples on end in mixture until the whole mixture is covered with apples. (Looks like a flower of apples.) Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Part 2.
1/8 lb. softened or melted butter
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
2 eggs
Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs. Pour over top of baked torte and bake until the custard sets, about 30 minutes at 325.
The NAOMI COOKBOOK is a collection of recipes assembled by members of the Naomi Chapter of Toronto
to mark 40 years of service in the Hadassah Organization of Canada. It was first published in 1928.
