Sibling Rivalry Part 2

Yesterday I mentioned the apple-baking rivalry between my Mom and her sister, my Aunt Beck. It was a really fascinating thing for them to be competitive about because although my mother loved to cook and was really good at it, Aunt Beck wasn’t much of a food person and never thought of herself as much of a cook. In fact, my grandma lived with that family and she did most of the cooking.

Somehow the sisters got themselves into this apple thing though. Aunt Beck figured that her little sister could star in the kitchen but, well, with this one exception.

Aunt Beck’s family, the Cohens, raved about the apple cake.

My family, the Vails, raved about the apple pie.

To tell you the truth, both were really delicious. I make both and am in competition with no one. 

So, Aunt Beck, you may not have thought of yourself as a stellar cook, but you did let me and Leslie play with all your snazzy clothes and open toe high heels and you did actually make a fabulous apple cake. So, here’s to you. I miss you.

Your recipe:

Aunt Beck’s Famous Two-Crust Apple Cake

Crust:

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup orange juice

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon grated fresh orange peel, optional

Filling:

3 pounds tart apples, peeled and sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon if desired

2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into tiny pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. To make the crust, beat the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil and orange juice together in a mixer set at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well mixed. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and orange peel, if used, and mix until a smooth, soft, uniform dough has formed, about 2-3 minutes. Cut the dough into two pieces, one piece twice as large as the other. Press the larger piece into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 13”x9” pan (or roll the dough and fit it inside the pan). Mix the apples, sugar, cinnamon if used, and flour together in a bowl (the amount of flour depending on juiciness of the apples) and place the mixture over the dough. Dot the surface with butter. Roll the smaller piece of dough and place it on top. Press the edges to seal them. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until well browned. Makes 12 servings

We made apple coffee cake with some of the apples we picked last weekend and it’s delish! An old friend taught me this recipe and it’s a big hit every time I make it. 

For the cake: 

1 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c sugar

1 T. cinnamon

5 1/2 T unsalted butter, room temp

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c milk

2 apples, peeled and sliced

For the crumb top: (mix in separate bowl)  

3/4 c flour

3/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp salt

4 T unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c oats

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease parchment paper and place in baking dish

2. sift flour, baking powder and salt

3. mix 1/4 c sugar w cinnamon and set aside in separate bowl

4. In separate bowl, mix 1/4 c sugar w butter

5. Beat in egg and add flour mixture and milk slowly

6. Spread half batter on parchment

7. l;ayer the apples and sprinkle with 1/2 the cinnamon sugar

8. Add rest of batter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar

9. Cover with crumb top

10. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes

11. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 25 minutes

Submitted by cookiequest

WOW this DOES sound delish! Thanks for the recipe. I still have lots of apples, even after all my pie baking. Will definitely make this cake. YUM