Autumn
and Apfelkuchen
It is now 5783 and the start of a brand-new year. We traditionally associate this sweet and beautiful time with apples and honey, or at least I do. It is a nice juxtaposition; the sharp acidity of aromatic apples, tempered with the intense, floral sweetness of honey. Those two flavours symbolise the accomplishments of another year, or even a life. The sharp flavour of apples representing the challenges and difficulties we faced to get here. The honey is the sweetness of accomplishment and overcoming them. Together, they give a reassurance of our capability to deal with the fresh challenges the new year will inevitably bring.
When I was little, our garden at home contained two beautiful apple trees. I learned later that the variety was ‘James Grieve’. My parents had wisely grown them because they were trees that gave a special and versatile fruit. Picked early, around the time of Rosh Hashanah, the apples were green, sharp and acidic; more like a baking apple. They were superb for New Year dipping in honey. Picked later and wrapped carefully in paper, they could be put away in boxes until Chanukah. They would be periodically taken out to be examined and reviewed; Yom Kippur like, for flaws which would make the others go bad. Found lacking, they would not be sealed again in the box but consumed or baked if possible. By Chanukah, the remaining good apples would be rosy red; a little smaller in size; wizened, but beautifully sweet and ready to eat. They were like the memories of good times; the essence of long hot summer days distilled and captured to enjoy again in the cold and brief days of Kislev and Tevet. Summer seemed golden, viewed and tasted in that way. Looking back to my childhood from an adult perspective is much the same. When you are little; long hot summer days seem to last forever. It never seems quite the same as a grown up but in memory, we can relive those halcyon times.
Yet it is all too easy looking back, to remember the past as better than it actually was. We tend to put a gloss on things and overlook the difficulties and problems. We need checks and balances to ensure that we aren’t misled into a happy daze of imagining things to be better than they really were. It is good then that 10 days after New Year, we come to Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is a reality check at the end of the Days of Awe; one which involves an external appraisal of our year, and requires a candid, honest view from ourselves. We see the flaws which can mar the sweetness. They will always be there but we have the choice to jettison them and make a fresh start. We need to, in order to ensure a sweet future for another year.
At Chanukah, the apples from our garden were simply delicious; ready to eat. But at Rosh Hashanah, like ourselves, they still needed work. Peeled, prepared and carefully sliced; my mother crafted them with love into the most delicious apfelkuchen to be served at New Year and during Sukkot. Fortunately, the taste isn’t just a memory, I still have the ability to relive the taste and the experience. My mother, along with unfinished manuscripts, copious notes about historic war crimes and her innumerable book collection, also bequeathed her food stained, handwritten recipe book. The time worn pages bear colours and minute traces of foods and preserves, created while the book was open on the Tisch. The same table was home to feasts, family get togethers, candle lighting, blessings and Havdalah. So much in our home revolved around it. It is a far cry from the television centric homes of the present day. My mother’s battered blue volume of recipes and meal ideas underpinned, prepared and provided for all our festive occasions. It did so as much as any Machzor or Siddur. Her handwriting, bold, simple and decisive in style; still brings her back to me. As I read her words, I can hear her voice. As I follow their rapid flow, I can sense the urgency and energy in her writing. It was a zest she put into everything she did, from the speedy rattle of her Adler typewriter, the ripping of flawed pages from the machine’s carriage, to the satisfied click of finished manuscripts as they were stored in their binder.
I include one of her recipes at the end of the article. This one is for an apfelkuchen with a sponge base. As always, my mother was never as precise as her recipes suggested. She baked by intuition and with love, not with science. There are many different apple cakes and I realise that this is one of many. The margarine we used was Rakusens which is dairy-free. My mother (and people generally) vary in how they arrange the apples. There are two alternatives in this recipe. The one pictured below or another where the apples are cut into quarters and slit 5-6 times to make a ‘fan’. These are then pressed into the dough at intervals to make an attractive pattern. We tended to eat this as a ‘coffee cake’ but it can make a good dessert too. I am unsure where the recipe came from; my mother handed it down to me as it came to her; from family.
Apfelkuchen
Ingredients
½-¾ lb of sharp baking apples (about 3) - check for blemishes.
2 heaped tablespoons of sugar
1 level teaspoon of mixed spice
¼ lb of kosher vegetable margarine (use butter if intended to serve on its own)
¼ lb of sugar
2 large eggs
Icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Method
Rub the margarine or butter into the flour well, with the tips of your fingers and add the ¼ lb of sugar. Beat the eggs and add a little at a time until all is used. It should make a dropping consistency (it took me ages to learn exactly what that was from my mother). Peel the apples, core and cut into thin slices. Grease a baking tin or dish and pour the mixture into it. Carefully lay the apple slices on top of the mix; overlapping slightly as you go. Combine the sugar and the spices and sprinkle or sift over the apples. You can add more or less to taste. Bake in the centre of a moderate oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the sponge is risen and the apples/sugar have begun to caramelise slightly. Allow to cool on a baking rack before turning out of the tin. Dust with a little icing sugar to decorate if desired. Serve with a good ground coffee for a delicious Zweites Frühstück.
