I've been trying to locate a recipe for an apple cake that my grandmother used to make (Yeah, I know, the fabled grandma recipe. Very cliched...)
Here's the thing, pretty much all apple cakes recipes I've found are white or cream colored. This particular apple cake was decidedly brown in color (Like dark brown sugar).
I'm sure that the exact recipe is not around, but at least I'm trying to find a starting point, so I can experiment a bit to see if I can get it right.
This is what I know / remember
Look and feel:
It was a *very* dense cake, with a crumbly texture similar to a muffin. It was moist, and as I mentioned a rich brown color. She used to make it in a loaf pan.
Known ingredients:
Apples: (I remember she shredded the apples to make it)
Flour
Walnuts
Raisins
Vegetable oil (I remember my mother complaining that she used way too much, but then again that's probably why it was so moist)
Brown sugar
Some extra info, she was Jewish originally from Poland/Warsaw with Yiddish influences, if this helps narrow down the possible sources for this recipe.
I'd be very grateful for any leads on pointers on a cake like this!
CINNOMIN was most likely used and maybe Nutmeg and Allspice. Combined with brown sugar or even white , this would account for the color of grandmas cake. It's texture and from where she was from seems to lean towards a Bakva type dense, crumbly cake. Good luck in your search.
I spent all Saturday playing with a few different recipes, and in the end I found that the closets match was a recipe for carrot cake (Substituting carrots with apples, of course). It used all the spices you mentioned, and indeed the color was brownish.
I sweetened it up with brown sugar and honey. It wasn't as brown as I remember it, but then again, that could be a distorted childhood memory. The flavor however was really good. I might need to do some minor tweaking to the recipe, but all in all I was pretty happy with the result.
Did you use brown sugar or dark brown sugar? Grandma might have added a touch of molasiss to it this would also much darken color.. Glad it came out good EDB
That last recipe actually nailed it (Down to the "too much oil" part /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif)
Only used one cup of oil, brown instead of white sugar, and baking powder instead of baking soda (Figured there's no acid to react with the baking soda)
Actually there is acid, in the apples, and i believe in the molasses of the brown sugar.
I have a recipe that meets your description, but from a very american source from the 50s. Are you sure it was a traditional Polish recipe? If your grandmother ever cooked from american cookbooks or passed recipes with american friends, it might not have been a traditional recipe from poland If you want it, it's a wonderful recipe for applesauce cake, comes out brown and moist and wonderful. Let me know and i;ll post it.
I'm so surprised to read there's another person seeking a recipe like this. I looked e-ve-ry-where and tried out so many other applecake recipes, but this one is from Mary Berry, thé queen of baking from the UK. So, all credits to Mary Berry. I made only a few changes; I used pecan nuts instead of walnuts and I chopped the apples in small cubes. Since I don't remember which source I copied this recipe from, I'm adding it exactly as I copied it. The picture is mine, maybe it will stimulate your memory? Anyway, enjoy!
225 g soft butter 225 g light muscovado or light brown sugar 3 medium eggs 100 g walnut pieces, chopped 100 g sultanas 225 g self-raising flour 2 tsp baking powder 400 g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated 1 tsp ground cinnamon light muscovado sugar for sprinkling extra chopped walnuts for sprinkling (optional) icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease and base line a 9 inch (23 cm) deep round cake tin with greased greaseproof paper. Measure the margarine, sugar, eggs, chopped walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat well for about 2 minutes until thoroughly blended. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin then spread the grated apple and ground cinnamon in an even layer on top. (I fancied a nice layer of apple so I thinly sliced the apple instead of grating it, but its down to personal preference) Spread the remaining cake mixture on top, level the surface then sprinkle generously with light muscovado sugar and walnuts. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours or until the cake is well risen and golden brown (mine was cooked after 1 hour). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
An old fashioned applesauce cake from the old betty crocker (yes, again) cookbook. Guaranteed not to fail. NIce dark brown, without using any brown sugar.
APPLESAUCE CAKE
make 1 1/2 cups applesauce:
cut up
6 to 8 tart apples, add
1/4 cup water, cover and cook to a mush and sieve. (I don't sieve, i just squash with the fork, and you can peel or not, as long as the pieces are not too big (if you don;t peel and don't sieve, just make sure the peel is no bigger than 1/2 inch - slice the apple vertically parallel to the core, then lay those pieces flat side down on your cutting board and chop across roughly, zap zap zap in one direction and zap in the other - a technique i learned from the galloping gourmet, whatever his name was)
Meanwhile, as they cook, grease and flour a 13 X 9 rectangular pan
preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cream together:
1/2 cups soft butter
2 cups white sugar (it comes out very dark, even with white sugar)
add and beat in:
1 large egg
stir in
1 1/2 cups of the above applesauce
Mix together:
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp soda
1-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
add the dry mixture above alternately with
1/2 cup water
beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, stirring only enough to combine each time
stir in :
1/2 cups cut up walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins (they call for seeded, cut up, but i always use regular)
bake for about 45 to 50 minutes till the top tests done (you can touch it lightly and it feels springy, a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a couple of crumbs attached.
Thanks to everyone for the great recipes.
At this point I no longer know what my grandma's apple cake should taste like, But I do know that over the past few months since I originally posted this, I've incorporated bits and pieces from your recipes, and I now have my very own cake recipe.
Hopefully it's good enough that my grandkids will never forget it, liek I didn't
This looks like the recipe we use at work for our apple cake it is so Good! Some of the best recipes are the old ones. I have a cook book that is well worn and used with love from 1925 called 'the home makers cooking school cook book, My mother used it alot.
i have a 'German Apple Cake Recipe that we have used at work for over 20 years, very moist and is a brown in color.
This recipe is for 48 portions.
6 eggs
2C Salad Oil _{Beat till foamy}
Then in separate bowl mix together
4C Sugar
2t vanilla
4 c flour
4t cinnamon
2t salt
2t soda Mix all these ingredients together and add to egg mixture, blend well.
Add
8C of apples, pelled and chopped
2 C Nuts, chopped
Add these to mixture and fold in well
Place mixture in greased 12x18 pan bake 50 to 60 mins at 350 degrees. test for dneness, let cool, Ice with cream cheese frosting and refrigerate
You can also portion the batter and bake in Bundt pans
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