“Bring the cookbook over,” said Grandpa, pointing to the roared blue hardcover. “There is a honey cake recipe in there,” he showed when I turned to the chapter “Kuchen”. My grandfather has had no appetite in the past two weeks, but now suddenly honey cake, a dessert that was traditionally served during the Jewish recourse to greet a sweet new year. Before I could make the cake, my grandfather Si Spiegel died peacefully in his apartment in Manhattan. The cookbook was still open to page 239; The cake still only ingredients. This year I did honey cake for Rosh Hashanah to honor his memory.
In the last few years of his life my grandfather and I spent most of the time in his apartment in his wooden piling table and recorded his life story. Si was born on May 28, 1924 in the family apartment in 61st and Amsterdam, grew up in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and worked in his father David his laundry business in Greenwich Village at the weekend. His mother Massia was a passionate suffragette that preferred to promote in the kitchen. Nevertheless, the food was an average limit for his parents, who fled in Eastern Europe from violent anti -Semitism in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The food was a connection at home where they never returned, and to the new community they found in Brooklyn, from the Knishes, which they found in Yonah Schimmel to Blintzes and Kasha Varnishkes with mushrooms at Ratner’s on Delancey Street. It was a language when there was no common language.
Back during the holidays, I am about staying connected to the generations of my family and our roots. It is a confirmation of something that flows through my veins and feels immatery in so many moments. When I cook, it feels that the history of my family is asserted by baking; I eat what my great -grandparents and grandparents eaten, what they cooked in their kitchen and what they served in their happiest moments.
The cookbook that my grandfather asked for is that Jewish cookbook By Mildred Grosberg Bellin, published by Garden City Books in 1958. My copy still has notes from my grandmother as proof of her use. It was the main source of inspiration for my recipe, but with adjustments to my end. My recipe does not require a white sugar.
Frying the apples for the cake is a necessary step. Cooking not only improves your taste and sweetness in advance, but also distinguishes the liquid and protects the cake to too tough. The use of apple cider vinegar in the cake-one trick that I learned from Baker Claire Saffitz-generated a more fluffy texture that interacts with the baking powder. This oil -based cake recipe is Pareve, which in the context of Jewish nutritional laws means that the recipe does not contain meat or dairy products and can therefore be eaten with both.
The resulting cake is slightly seasoned with a spongy texture and a consistently roasted apple. I recommend that you bake this cake the night before serving. With the apples, honey and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom, the aromas of this cake develop over time after it comes out of the oven. As soon as the cake cools down completely, wrap it in the fridge overnight. Leave it at room temperature for at least an hour before serving so that it is not served cold. I recommend serving this cake with non -permanent vanilla ice cream or apple jam for a delicious pairing. I hope this cake brings sweet into your new year as for mine.
Photos: Jason Donnelly, Essen: Sammy Mila, props: Breanna Ghazali
