apples

Sweet apples for New Year

(photo from flickr / s2art)

My favourite fall/winter fruit is apples, and not just because they are a main symbol of Rosh Hashanah, helping us start off the new year with a sweet dip of honey. I believe the adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Although the phrase was uttered by Benjamin Franklin, it originated in 1866 in Wales – “eat an apple on going to bed and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.”

Why are apples healthy? They may lower high cholesterol and blood pressure; they have fibre, which can aid digestion; they support a healthy immune system; are a diabetes-friendly fruit; and the antioxidants in apples may play a role in cancer prevention.

All that aside, they just taste great. Here are some recipes to try out, one of which features another New Year’s symbol – the pomegranate.

MOTHER’S ROSH HASHANAH APPLE CAKE

2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
2 cups applesauce (or 2 finely chopped apples)
2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 tsp wine
4 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups raisins
1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped nuts

Grease two cake pans. Preheat oven to 350°F.
With an electric or hand mixer, cream oil and sugar.
Add eggs, cinnamon and cloves.
Add applesauce, dissolved baking soda and blend. Add flour, vanilla, raisins and nuts.
Pour into the well-greased cake pans and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

APPLE ENCHANTMENT
(This recipe was in my files from the 1970s, from Carmel wine company.)

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup caramel amaretto
grated rind and juice of 1 orange
4 large, firm apples

In a saucepan, combine sugar, amaretto, orange rind and juice. Bring to a boil.
Peel, core and thickly slice apples. Place in the pan as they are sliced. Reduce heat and simmer until apples are tender and liquid has evaporated.
Remove to a dish. Chill.
Garnish with shredded coconut or whipped cream.

BAKED STUFFED APPLES
(This recipe by Ann Chantal Altman is from a 2001 Food & Wine cookbook.)

3 tbsp lightly toasted slivered blanched almonds
1.3 ounces of finely crumbled kosher amaretti (almond-flavoured Italian macaroons)
1/3 cup dry currants
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp softened unsalted butter or margarine
4 apples
1 cup apple juice
2 tbsp dark rum

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a square baking dish.
In a bowl, mix almonds with amaretti crumbs, currants, brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest.
Remove interior core and seeds of apples within half-inch of bottom. Score apple skin lengthwise at 1.5-inch intervals and arrange in the baking dish. Spoon filling into apples. Pour apple juice and rum around the apples.
Bake for 20 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and bake 45-50 minutes longer or until apples are very soft. Transfer to plates. Spoon juices on top.

QUICK AND EASY MICROWAVE APPLE COMPOTE

4 large apples
3 to 5 tbsp water or apple juice
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 to 3 tsp sugar

Cut apples in small pieces, discarding cores. Place in a microwave-safe dish with water or apple juice.
Cover and microwave on high for three minutes. Stir and microwave for two more minutes.
Add cinnamon and sugar. Cover and microwave for one to two minutes or until tender. Sprinkle some sugar on top.

APPLES BAKED IN POMEGRANATE SYRUP

4 apples, cored and cut into 16 wedges each
juice from half a pomegranate
apple juice
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
seeds from half a pomegranate

Use non-stick vegetable spray on a microwavable baking dish.
Place apple wedges in the dish.
Squeeze juice from half a pomegranate and add apple juice to make 1/2 cup.
Add preserves and cinnamon and mix well. Pour over apples and coat. Cover.
Microwave on high for two minutes and stir. Continue until apples are barely tender, at least two minutes more.
Remove seeds from remaining pomegranate half, discard white pith. Sprinkle over apples and serve.

Sybil Kaplan is a Jerusalem-based journalist and author. She has edited/compiled nine kosher cookbooks and is a food writer for North American Jewish publications.

About the Rosh Hashanah cover art

Deborah Shapiro is a self-taught, award-winning artist from Akron, Ohio, who creates collages from bits of magazine paper – no paint is used. Her subjects include nature scenes, animals and still life images. Many of her pieces have words and added meaning, as with the apple collage that graces the cover of this special issue of the Jewish Independent. You will find parts of apple pie recipes within the cut part of the apple. Apples, of course, are one of the symbols of Rosh Hashanah, representing, as we dip them in honey, our wishes for a sweet new year.

Shapiro began her art career later in life, after the age of 50, following a jaw surgery. Her mother gave her magazines as she recovered and Shapiro used them as paint to create paper paintings. Prior to that, she was a videographer for more than 35 years. To see more of her creations, visit deborahshapiroart.com or facebook.com/deborahshapiroart.

Relish the New Year’s apples

(photo by Jonathunde)

Although summer is still in full swing, apples come into the markets here in Israel before Rosh Hashanah. I love apples; they are probably my most favourite fruit, especially in fall and winter. Here are some apple recipes for your holiday table.

BAKED APPLE RELISH
I found this recipe in a women’s magazine 40 years ago but it still makes a good accompaniment for chicken or meat.

6 small baking apples, core removed, scooped out insides leaving a shell, setting the scooped out insides in a bowl
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup raisins
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp dry mustard
4 tbsp red fruit preserves
4 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Melt butter or margarine in a large frying pan. Add onion and sauté five minutes.

3. Add chopped apples, tomato, raisins, ginger, mustard, one tablespoon preserves, one tablespoon vinegar, and red pepper, if using. Cook five minutes or until mixture starts to thicken.

4. Spoon into hollowed out apples. Arrange apples in a shallow baking pan.

5. Add remaining preserves and vinegar to frying pan and heat a few minutes. Pour over apples.

6. Bake for 30-45 minutes.

HONEY AND APPLE CAKE
I found this recipe of an Israeli chef from a Bnei Brak bakery in a local newspaper. It makes two loaves.

4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 cup honey
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup strong fruit tea
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 to 3 green apples, cut into small cubes

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil two loaf pans.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar for two minutes in a mixer at medium speed. Add oil then honey and mix.

3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

4. Add to egg-sugar-oil-honey mixture. Mix until smooth.

5. Add tea and apples and mix.

6. Pour batter into two loaf pans. Bake for 40 minutes.

MY FAVOURITE MICROWAVE APPLE CHUTNEY
I make this chutney for our favourite fish curry, but it can be used with other dishes as well. Makes two cups.

1/3 cup chopped lemon
1 chopped garlic clove
1 2/3 cups chopped apples
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1 tbsp ground ginger
dash chili powder
2/3 cup cider vinegar

1. Place all ingredients in a microwavable dish. Microwave four minutes.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.

An apple-honey cake

Add some apples to your honey cake this year. (photo by Barry A. Kaplan)

In the spirit of trying new things and as the New Year approaches, here is a recipe from my kosher kitchen, a slightly different take on the traditional honey cake. It’s a Rosh Hashanah favorite.

TWO-LAYER APPLE-HONEY CAKE

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup sugar or sugar substitute
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup non-dairy creamer
1/2 cup honey or honey substitute
3 cups grated apples

Frosting
2 cups tofu cream cheese
1/2 cup unsalted pareve margarine
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey or honey substitute

Preheat oven to 325˚F.
Put vegetable spray on two nine-inch cake pans.
Place flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and sugar or sugar substitute in a large bowl and mix.
Add vanilla, eggs, oil, non-dairy creamer and honey. Mix, then add apples. Place half of the batter in each baking pan. Bake in the oven about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool.
Beat cream cheese and margarine in a bowl until fluffy.
Add orange peel, confectioners sugar and vanilla and blend. Add honey. Chill until firm enough to spread.
Place one cake on a serving dish. Spread with one cup of frosting. Top with the second cake and spread the remaining frosting on the top and sides.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, foreign correspondent, lecturer, food writer and book reviewer who lives in Jerusalem. She also does the restaurant features for janglo.net and leads walks in English in Jerusalem’s market.