Shaker Apple Cake

This Shabbos I made shaker apple cake for dessert, btw thanks J&S for hosting such a wonderful Shabbos dinner! Anyway, I had all these apples that were yelling out at me “use me or loose me” so I decided it was time for a ba’al tashchis project to save the apples. For those of you not familiar with ba’al tashchis  it is the injunction in the Torah to not wantonly waste. Ok, confession time, in truth I bought the apples a few weeks ago for the express purpose of making shaker apple cake and then procrastinated doing so, so really having a heaping pile of apples about to go bad sitting in my kitchen was entirely my own fault.

But anyway, more about shaker apple cake….  It is an awesomely yummy and simple dessert with limited straightforward ingredients you are likely to have at home right now. I came across a recipe for it a few months ago, and it attracted me right away. This is reflective of the ideology of the Shakers, who believed in simple well made things done right. You might be familiar with shaker furniture design. Well, welcome to shaker cake.

I wish I could give credit to where I first saw the recipe but I really have absolutely no idea. It was one of those things I liked, wrote in a notebook, and didn’t look at for 6 months. The recipe that follows below it my interpretation of the recipe I was initially introduced to. After trying out said recipe I made some changes, well, a lot of them actually, but don't worry I kept the simple wholesome goodness idea intact. The biggest difference is that mine is parve, the other big differences are in quantity of everything except flour and baking powder. But I guess since neither you nor I has the original recipe any longer you don’t really need all the details.

Shaker Apple Cake:

Mix in a bowl, and then pour into a greased round cake pan-

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

¾ cup hemp milk

2-3 eggs, depending on size

Slice 2 apples and lay them on top. Pour over that-

1/4 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed in

1/3 cup melted earth balance

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. Let cool for 20 minutes, then slide a spatula all around the cake to help unmold, invert it on to plate and then turn right side up so it doesn’t stick. Or, if not serving right away wrap in plastic wrap. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, or with yogurt for breakfast.

One note- this rises a lot, so if your pan looks about half full then you are 100% heading in the right direction.

Happy Eating!