A Cake for a New Baby or a Jewish New Year!

Yesterday I attended my dear friend Deb's baby shower. She and her family will welcome their sixth little blessing at the end of this month. My friend Cathy had a fabulous idea. What does a mom of six need more than anything? We couldn't arrange for more hours in a day or make sure that little boy will give his mom a full night's rest from the start, so Cathy thought of the obvious. FOOD. Not only did the guests bring delicious food for Deb to take home, but Cathy made a fabulous brunch for us, too.
I just love cooking with Cathy. She's a Jersey girl. She moved out here to the midwest, fell in love with a South Dakota farm boy, and now she's settled amongst us farmers. Her specialty is Italian--yummy, real Italian food. Yesterday we sampled her frittata and bruschetta.
Since baking is my specialty, she asked me to bring a coffee cake. I tore out a recipe for Jewish Apple Cake from Relish magazine recently and couldn't wait to try it. Being a Catholic German, I have to say it was the first time I ever knowingly followed a kosher recipe! I was so happy when Cathy told me it was just like the cake her Grandma, who lived in a primarily Jewish neighborhood, used to make for her.

Jewish Apple Cake
6 cups peeled and thinly-sliced Granny Smith apples (about 3 large)
1 1/2 cups + 5 T sugar, divided
4 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease, sprinkle a little sugar, and flour in a Bundt or tube pan. Combine apple slices with 5 T sugar & cinnamon; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Beat eggs with remaining sugar and brown sugar. Add oil, orange juice, and vanilla; beat well. Gradually blend in flour mixture and mix until well blended (about one minute).
Pour 1/3 batter into the pan. Top with 1/2 the apple slices, draining off any liquid. Pour in 1/2 the remaining batter and top with rest of apples. Top with remaining batter, making sure the apples are covered.
Bake 55-60 minutes, until the top turns golden brown and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes in pan. Turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

The hardest part was taking this beautiful cake out of the oven and not being able to slice into it until the next day! I hope you like it as much as we all did.