Although we have apples all year round, apple season is now at its peak. The orchards are kneeling under the load of fruits and the smell of autumn is in the air.
Once upon a time, when the children were small, we would go apple picking in the depths of Long Island. Here in Long Island and also upstate New York there are orchards with apple crops and other fruits in abundance.
Farmers and farms have stalls selling all the goodness of the land and local produce of jams, spreads and all the abundance.
The trick here, is to grate apples (not soft apples) and squeeze the juice out of them. The "drier" the apple, the better.
If autumn has a smell, it's that of a baked apples.
Apple olive oil cake DAVID TAMARKIN
Materials
1 cup of moderate flavor olive oil, (not a crazy dominant flavor)
1/2 cup of sugar + a little more to coat the batter
3 non-soft apples (such as Granny Smith or Gala) peeled and cored
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon coffee khwaj If you dont carry the spice khwaj, then put 1/2 teaspoon cardamom and 1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 and a half cups of white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Method of preparation
Heat oven to 350 degrees. cover baking pan with oil spary and cover the bottom and sides with sugar. Set aside.
Grate apples with a grater, using the biggest holes. Put the grated apples in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the apples out of liquid. Squeeze well. We don't want any liquid in the apples.
Mix all the spices. Set aside half a teaspoon of spices (we will use it later). In a mixing ball, add flour, baking powder and spices. mix well. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together. eggs and yolks. Add vanilla extract, brown sugar and white sugar and continue beating vigorously until the batter changes color and becomes lighter. With one hand, continue to mix the batter, with the other hand, gradually add olive oil. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Using a silicone spatula, gently fold the flour into the eggs batter until the ingredients come together. Remember not to mix too much. Over mixing will make the cake texture dense. Spread the apples over the batter and mix until the ingredients come together.
Transfer the mix to the baking pan. Flatten the surface of the cake.
Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the spices left a side, mix it and sprinkle it over the surface of cake.
Put the cake in the oven for 60-70 minutes or until the surface of the cake becomes a deep color and a toothpick comes out of the center of the cake, dry.
Remove the cake and let it cool completely before slicing. Now go make some tea and find some steamy documentary.
