Apple Cake with Cinnamon Topping

Food and prop styling by Shiri Feldman
Food prep and styling by Chef Suzie Gornish
Photography by Felicia Perretti

When I created this recipe, my criteria were to use just a few eggs, not separate eggs, not make it overly sweet, and most crucially, the texture should be good. I’ve tried many Pesach apple cakes over the years, and I’ve often been left with what I call a glorified very sweet, settled, scrambled egg! I knew this cake exceeded my expectations when I served it to a guest who told me it tastes mezonos-like and proceeded to ask me for a piece for his wife at home!

SERVES 16

• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla sugar
• ½ cup oil (I used walnut oil)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon, plus more for serving
• scant 1½ cups potato starch
• 1 large Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, and left whole
• confectioners’ sugar, for garnish

Cinnamon Topping

• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp oil
• pinch salt

Drain applesauce in a strainer lined with 2–3 pieces of paper towel for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9-inch (23-cm) square pan with Palisades Parchment Paper.