If you love Tortes, but have been looking for a lighter filling, rather than the traditional butter cream one, this is a great recipe for you.  The cake layers are very thin, and the filling is mostly apples, with a nice caramel glaze.

My sister-in-law shared this recipe with me, and I tried my best to convert the metric measures to cups, and spoons.

She actually has  a nice collection of really great recipes, but they need some modifications here and there, to make them more precise.

This torte is quite easy to assemble, and to cut into serving pieces, since it is in a sheet cake form, rather than the usual round shape.

Torte Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour, all purpose
• 1 cup sugar, granulated
• 2 cups butter, unsalted
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 Tbs sour cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. baking powder

Torte Directions:

1. Sift the flour with baking powder, and salt.
2. Set aside.
3. Grate the butter on a large eye grater, over flour.
4. Using a pastry cutter, cut together the flour and butter.
5. Set aside.
6. Beat the egg yolks with sugar, until light and fluffy.
7. Mix in vanilla extract, and sour cream.
8. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, and form dough.
9. Divide dough into 3 equal parts.
10. Grease and flour, three sheet cake pans, 9 x 13 x 2.
11. Spread evenly 1/3 portion of the batter, in each pan (I placed scoops of the batter all over the pan, then using the back of a spoon, I spread the batter evenly over the bottom of the pan).
12. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes, until golden.
13. Remove from the oven, and cool off in the pans, loosening up around the edges for easier removal.

Apple Filling Ingredients

• 8 apples, pared, cored, and shredded on a large eye shredder (I used 4 Granny Smith, and 4 Gala)
• 1 single package of lemon, or orange jello ( I used orange, but next time will try the lemon)
• 1 Tbs. of butter
• 1 tsp. of lemon juice

Directions for Apple Filling:

1. Heat a large frying pan, melt the butter to coat the bottom of the pan.
2. Mix in shredded apples.
3. Lower the heat to medium, cover pan, and saute for 10 minutes. Mixing occasionally.
4. Mix in the jello powder, and lemon juice.
5. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool off.
6. Remove one of the cakes from a pan, and lay it on a serving platter, or tray (I used a large cookie sheet, lined with aluminum foil).
7. Divide the apple filling in half.

7.  Spread first half of the filling over the first cake.

8.  Place the second cake over the filling.

9.  Spread the second half of the apple filling over this cake.

10.  Cover it with the third cake.

11.  Set aside.

Caramel-Nut Glaze Ingredients:

• ¾ cup chopped nuts (I used Pecans)
• ¾ cup sugar, granulated
• 3 Tbs. milk
• 3 Tbs. honey
• 5 Tbs. butter

Directions for Caramel-Nut Glaze:

1. Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Bring to boil, and cook for 1 minute.

3.  Pour hot glaze over the top of the cake, and spread evenly.

4.  Cool slightly, and score the top of the glaze all the way through, to the first cake layer, to prepare for easier

cutting into serving pieces, later on.

5.  Once the glaze cools completely, you may continue to cut through the other layers of the cake, to form  serving

pieces.  Otherwise, may cover the cake with aluminum foil, and store it in the refrigerator, until ready to serve, at

which time you will cut it up into serving pieces.
TIP: This cake is firmer right after assembly, but later on the cake layers pick up the moisture from the apple filling, and become very moist.  The Caramel/Nut glaze tends to separate slightly away from the top of the cake, so for serving ease, I arranged my serving pieces on a serving platter, in individual cupcake liners.  For a better presentation, I trimmed about 1/2 inch of f ,  from all the sides of the cake, before cutting it into serving pieces.

I created this recipe based on my childhood memory of Apple Pancakes,  my Godmother used to make, and she called them “Ratsushki”.

They are pan fried Apple Fritters (pancakes), using regular all purpose flour, rather then premixed pancake mix.

I prefer these over the pancakes from a mix, since they do not absorb as much of the pancake syrup. I also love the taste of the fresh cooked apples (or any fruit) intertwined throughout the pancakes.

Very easy to make, and delicious to have any time of the day, not just for breakfast (sometimes I grab a cold one, as a snack).

These also freeze very well, and are great thawed and heated up on the pan, or in a toaster oven.

This recipe makes about 12 pancakes, 4 inch in diameter.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups  flour
• 1 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbs unsalted butter, melted (or vegetable oil)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (or less, as per your taste)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 2 medium apples
• Vegetable oil for frying (I use canola oil)

Directions:

1. Sift the flour with salt, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar.
2. Beat the egg with milk in mixer, on medium speed.
3. Gradually add the flour mixture to incorporate.
4. Mix in melted butter.
5. Peel, core, and dice, the apples.
6. Add cinnamon to apples (optional).
7. Fold apples into the batter.
8. Heat 2 Tbs vegetable oil on medium heat (see TIP).

9.  Drop about 2 heaping spoonfuls of pancake batter onto hot oil, spacing

them about 1 inch apart, so they don’t stick together during cooking (mine were too close together, and ran over).

10.  Fry a minute or so, until you see air bubbles forming on top of

pancakes, then breaking up leaving small craters, and the edges are

getting lightly browned.

11.  Flip them  over to the other side (away from you, using a spatula), and fry

a minute longer.

12.  Remove from the pan onto paper towel, to soak up any extra oil.

13.  Serve hot with your choice of syrup, jam, or other fresh fruit and

whipped cream.

Enjoy!

TIP: To test your oil for readiness, once you see the oil begins to move round slightly, drop a small drop of batter on the pan and if it starts to sizzle and bubble around it, the oil is hot enough for frying.

You may also choose cooking spray over oil.

Apples are one of those fruits that are always available at the local grocer, and the prices are usually fairly affordable, in comparison to some other, more seasonal fruits.

Almost everyone loves apples,which brings back the old saying “Apple a day, keeps the doctor away”, so they must be good for you as well.

I love apples, and already posted recipes for Apple Dip, Apple appetizers, Apple Bundt Cake, and here is one from my sister-in-law, for a delicious Apple Sheet Cake.

You know how I love making sheet cakes, because they are easy to make, and a great desserts for large gatherings.  Also a wonderful baked item for bake sales, and fund raisers, since you can sell them by serving pieces, or in larger pieces, split it in half, or quarters.

Ingredients for Cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 oz Original Philadelphia cream cheese (1/2 pack)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 stick)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 whole eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for Apple Filling:

• 5 – 6 apples ( Gala or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions for Apple Filling:

1. Mix dry ingredients with apples.
2. Sprinkle lemon juice.
3. Mix well to coat.
4. Place in a strainer over a bowl,  to drain off any accumulating juices.

Directions for Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease well, and flour (see TIP),  a 9 x 13, or 9 x 18 sheet cake pan.
   
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, and mix them by hand, until all evenly incorporated, and the dough is smooth.
4. This dough is very soft, and needs to firm up.
5. Cover and refrigerate for couple of hours, or overnight.
6. Before removing your dough from the fridge, prepare your apple filling.
7. Remove dough from the fridge and divide into two equal parts.
8. Place half of the dough on a well floured waxed or parchment paper, slightly larger than your baking pan.
9. Cover, and store the other half of the dough in the fridge.
10. Sprinkle the dough  generously with flour, and work with a rolling pin to roll out a rectangular piece to fit your baking sheet.  Keep flouring as needed to prevent your rolling pin from sticking to the dough.
11. Gently lift the dough with the paper and invert it onto the prepared baking sheet. (It is easier to work with a smaller piece of dough, thus the 9 x 13 pan.  I used the 9 x 18 pan and had some challenges placing the dough in the pan, as it was sticking to the paper).
12. Spread the prepared apples over the dough.
13. Smooth it out evenly all over the pan.
14. Remove the other half of the dough from the fridge.
15. Roll out in the same way as the first piece.
16. Place it over the apples.
17. Press down, with our fingers, or with fork tines, all along the edges around the pan.

1. Make ventilation vents in the top cake layer, by pricking it strategically with a fork (as above).
2. Place the pan on the middle rack in your warmed oven, and bake 35 minutes if you used the 9 x 18 pan, or 45- 50  minutes for the  9 x 13 pan.
3. I sprinkled my cake with 1/4 cup of light brown sugar, for the last 10 minutes of baking.
4. Remove from the oven.

1. Leave it in the pan, to cool completely.
2. Once cooled, cover with foil paper for storage and freshness.
3. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar, before cutting to serving pieces.

TIP: I always dust my cake pans before placing the dough in the pan, to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan, hence easier cake removal after baking.

To dust your cake pan, grease your pan, sprinkle about 1 Tbs of flour over the bottom of the pan,  lift the pan with two hands, and move it around in a way that the flour spreads evenly over the bottom and sides of the whole pan. Gently shake out any remaining flour.

I came across this recipe, and the mere fact which caught my eye, was that even though the cake is baked, it does not require any batter mixing.

Since I had all the necessary ingredients on hand, and knowing that Rosh Hashanah is just around the corner, thus perfect time to whip up a quick apple dessert,  so I gave it a try.

I was quite skeptical about shaving all the butter on top of the dry ingredients, but gave it a try nonetheless.

This recipe is so simple, thus perfect for even the beginner baker.  The finished product is not heavy, not too sweet, and may be served warm or cold, plain or with choice of topping.

I served it warm with a scoop of ice cream, drizzled  with caramel sauce, and next day a we had it cold, topped off with whipped cream.

The first day it was slightly crunchy, but by the next day the moisture from the apples penetrated all the layers more evenly, and smoothed out the texture.

Ingredients:

• 6 Granny Smith apples, washed, peeled, shredded
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup Cream of Wheat cereal, uncooked
• 1 cup sugar
• 1  1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Pecans, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup ( 1  1/2 stick) frozen butter). Piece of parchment or waxed paper.

Granny Smith Apples                          Cream of Wheat cereal

Directions:

1. Wash, peel, and core, apples.
2. Shred apples on a large eye grater, mix in cinnamon, and set aside.

3.  In a large bowl, mix flour, cream of wheat, sugar, and baking powder.

4.  Cut out a circle from a parchment paper, large enough to cover the bottom of the cake pan.

I used a 10-inch Springform Cake Pan, placed it on top of parchment paper, traced around the bottom of the form, and cut out the circle

5.  Smudge some butter on the bottom of the baking pan (to hold down the paper).

6.  Lay the parchment paper circle on the bottom of the form.

7.  Grease well the paper bottom, and the sides of the pan.

8.  Divide the flour mixture into three equal portions ( 1 cup each).

9.  Sprinkle evenly 1 cup of flour mixture on the papered bottom cake pan.

10.  Divide apples in two equal portions, and spread one portion on top of the dry ingredients (I dropped spoonfuls

of apples strategically all over the dry ingredients, then with a spoon smoothed them out carefully as not to

disturb the dry bottom layer too much) .

11.  Cover apples with another cup of dry ingredients.

12.  Spread the remaining apples over this layer.

13.  Cover with remaining flour mixture.

14.  Cover this top layer with shavings of butter, by grating frozen butter on the same large eye grater as apples.

15.  Preheat over to 350 degrees F, and bake on the middle rack, for 60 minutes.  Don’t panic if you notice that there is a pool of melted butter on the top of your cake. During the course of baking, the butter will be absorbed by the dry ingredients, combined with the apples juices, which will saturate the consecutive layers.  Some butter will drip out of the baking pan, thus to prevent messing up your oven, place a larger pan (I use a pizza pan)  under the cake pan, to  catch the dripping butter and apple juices.

16.  During the last 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle the top of the cake with chopped pecans, and continue baking.

17.  Once done, remove from the oven onto a cooling rack, and let it cool for 10 minutes, then release pan spring and remove sides.

If you choose to serve it warm, use a serrated knife for easier slicing.

Rosh Hashanah, means “Head of the Year”, in Hebrew, hence a New Year celebration.

This year Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Wednesday, September 8th, and is celebrated through Thursday and Friday.  It is a religious holiday, thus  regular services at the synagogue, plus the use of apples dipped in honey as part of the meal, to start the new year on a sweet note.

I would like to extend my warm wishes of happiness, health and prosperity to all my friends who celebrate this holiday.

I already posted my favorite Caramel Apple Dip recipe, which is perfect for Rosh Hashanah, since it contains apples and honey, and it is quite delicious.

Today I will post my recipe for a Jewish Apple Cake, which was given to me by a friend of mine a couple of decades ago.  I am not sure why the word “Jewish” is in the name of this recipe, so if anyone is familiar with how it got the  name, please share it will all of us.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2  1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups sifted, all purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 6-8 medium size apples (I use Granny Smith), peeled and sliced
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbs sugar (to sweeten apples)
• 1 tsp lemon extract, or lemon juice
• Powdered sugar (optional, for dusting the top of the cake)

Directions:

1. Wash and peel apples.
2. Into a large bowl, slice apples to thin slices (use slice section of a grader, or food processor),
3. Add cinnamon, 3 Tbs sugar, and lemon extract/juice.
4. Fold in well, to coat the apples.
5. Set aside.
6. In a large mixing bowl,using a mixer, mix 2 cups sugar with 4 eggs, until thickened and light creamy yellow color.
7. Mix in oil, orange juice, salt, and vanilla extract.
8. Mix flour with baking powder.
9. Slowly keep on adding to the creamed eggs, and keep on mixing until all flour is used up.
10. Grease (I used Crisco shortening) well a 9×12 cake pan, or bundt cake form, and flour generously to prevent the batter from sticking:

11.  Pour 1/2 of the batter into the pan.

12.  Cover with apples, and smooth the top to keep it evenly spread out.

13.  Pour in the second half of the batter, over the apples.

14.  Bake at 350 degrees F, for 60 minutes (if the top start browning too much, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

15.  Cool in a cake pan for 10 minutes, then remove onto a cooling rack until cooled completely.

16.  Sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of the cake, or sugar glaze, or caramel glaze , if that is what you like.

17.  Cut to serving pieces, and enjoy!

TIP: If you like some crunchiness in this cake, you may add 1 cup of raisins to the apples, and 1/2

cup of walnuts to the batter.

Summer is officially here.

Lots of  hot days in the sun, more time for outdoor fun, and less time to spend in the kitchen.

This is a very refreshing fruit salad, great for any occasion, and very easy to prepare.

This is my son-in-laws favorite salad, so my daughter is becoming an expert on preparing it for her family.

Ingredients:
•    8 oz can pineapple chunks, drained
•    16 oz can sliced peaches, drained
•    16 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
•    3 medium bananas, sliced
•    2 medium apples, peeled and chopped
•    3.75 ox instant vanilla pudding mix
•    1 ½ cups milk
•    1/3 cup thawed frozen orange juice concentrate
•    ¾ cups sour cream

Directions:
1.    Combine dry pudding mix, milk, and orange juice.
2.    Beat until blended –  1 to2 minutes
3.    Beat in sour cream
4.    Fold in fruit mixture
5.    Cover, and chill at least a couple of hours, or over night.

This is a follow up to my previous post about The Pampered Chef, and the party food recipes.

The Honey-Apple Brie Bites were absolutely delicious, and so elegantly presented in prepared mini phyllo shells.  These ready made phyllo cups are readily available at any grocery store, and they come in three colors: natural, red, and green.  The chef selected the natural color, to complement the red apples she used in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 medium red baking apples such as Jonathan, cored, and finely diced
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 4-in round Brie, or Camembert cheese with rind, cubed to ½ inch pieces
• 2 pkg prepared mini phyllo shells (30 shells total)

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 400°F.
2. Set you phyllo cups on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
3. Mix gently the apples, walnuts, zest and honey.
4. Place one cube of Brie in each phyllo cup.
5. Using a Small Scoop, cover the Brie with one scoop of the apple mixture.
6. Bake 6-8 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
7. Serve warm.  (They are still as delish cold).

Tip:  My friends mentioned that this recipe would be great for Rosh Hashanah, since apples and honey are being served in abundance during that holiday.  You will agree that these type of appetizers are great for any occasion.

All gadgets and cookware used, are offered by The Pampered Chef.

With the upcoming holidays like St. Nicholas Day,  Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year, there will be lots of parties to attend, and lots of party foods to prepare and sample.  I will contribute by posting some of my favorite recipes for these occasions.

At our latest family gathering at Thanksgiving, I prepared this fairly light caramel dip, and it was my daughter-in-law’s favorite dip.  I was so delighted, and decided to post it here for you to try and to enjoy.   It requires very few ingredients, and it is much lighter in flavor and texture, than the store bought caramel dip.  This recipe makes 2 cups of dip.

Ingredients:

1. 8 oz.  cream cheese, softened
2. ¼ cup honey
3. 2 tsp. cinnamon
4. A pinch of ground cloves (optional)
5. ½  cup Caramel Ice Cream Topping
6. 2 red apples, cored and cut into thin wedges, or chunks
7. 1 green apple, cored and cut into thin wedges, or chunks

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, honey, caramel topping, and 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon.
2. Beat until smooth.
3. Chill in the refrigerator.
4. Transfer into a serving bowl, sprinkle with ½ tsp. of cinnamon.
5. Place the bowl of dip on a platter, and arrange apple pieces around it.

Tip.   We found out that a very generous dipping with an apple chunk, tastes much better than just a light dipping.

Spear the apple piece with a toothpick, and submerge it in the dip…..yummy!!!!

I added a pinch (tip of 1/8  tsp. ) of ground cloves, to enhance the flavor and complement the cinnamon aroma.