This apple cake is dense and sweet, studded with bits of tart fruit and topped with cinnamon and sugar. It is perfect for serving during Hanukkah.
When I was little, back when people still subscribed to magazines and there was no such thing as digital content, my mom was an avid reader of Cooking Light. It’s one of the first cooking magazines that I remember really loving.
I can’t remember if she bought me my own subscription or just saved her old copies for me, but I even read it in college, cut out the recipes I wanted to try, and pasted them into a binder. I still have that binder and cook old favorites from it often. Cooking Light is where I first found the recipe for this delicious apple cake. I’ve been making it for a long time now and still love it.
I am a sucker for anything with a lot of cultural heritage behind it. So, while I have absolutely no ties to Hanukkah, I love the idea of it. It seems like a sweet holiday, steeped in thousands of years of religious lore and symbolism, safely shielded from the rampant commercialism that surrounds Christmas.
And you know I’m an even bigger sucker for holidays that incorporate delicious foods. Hanukkah starts soon; get in the spirit with this moist, sweet cake studded with bits of tart apple and covered in a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.
Hanukkah Apple Cake
This apple cake is dense and sweet, studded with bits of tart fruit and topped with cinnamon and sugar. It is perfect for serving during Hanukkah. This recipe is adapted from one in an old edition of Cooking Light, which was one of my favorite cooking magazines for a long, long time.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 cups chopped, peeled apple (anything tart-ish will do)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8" springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla, and cream cheese until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating on low until just blended.
- In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon sugar over chopped apples and toss to coat. Gently fold apples into cake batter, and pour batter into pan. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar on top.
- Bake cake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until cake pulls away from sides of pan. Cool completely before removing from pan and serving.
Notes
This recipe can also be made in an 8" square pan.
To find more holiday recipes, CLICK HERE and visit my recipe archives.
I just discovered your blog and am enjoying looking through the recipes, marking the delicious treats I have to try! I appreciated this particular post and although it’s way past Hannukah, I just wanted to clarify that many Jewish dessert recipes DO contain dairy products so it’s perfectly acceptable to call this a “Hannukah Apple Cake”. We’re just careful about what we put in our desserts that we enjoy after a meal of meat, since it’s forbidden to consume dairy after meat. That’s why so many of the desserts are “parve”- however, we enjoy milk and butter just as much as the next person!
Great post, I’ll have to save this recipe for next year 🙂
Thanks for the little lesson in Jewish culture! So many rules to keep track of!
I see this originally listed 2011 but just made this for Hannukah 2018. Not many have cream cheese in them. This couldn’t have been better! Thank you and I’ll be saving this one for sure!! “Professional grade” was there best compliment. Mmmmmmm
Hi Melanie! Yep, it’s an oldie but a goodie. And the cream cheese makes it so moist and flavorful. Glad you liked it!