Old is New ... again.
Tradition rings through my culinary veins. My grandfather was a butcher and ran a small butcher shop in Pittsburgh's now famous Strip District. My grandmothers, both Polish, embraced their Old World traditions and brought the classic rustic-ness of Old World Poland to their kitchens. When I offered to help my new Mother-in-law with Sunday's dinner celebrating Rosh Hashanna, I couldn't have dreamed the Apple Cake she asked me to make would take me back to Grandmothers' kitchens.
Those that know me know that baking is the least of my talents in the kitchen. It usually takes a few tests before I nail a recipe. Since there was no time to test recipes, or tweak or try something else, I had only one shot for Sunday. There was no pressure!! (sarcasm fully intended).
My romp through my library of cookbooks led me in surprising directions. Low cal, low fat, low carb... pies and tarts galore...but nothing that said "traditional" or "classic" cake until I happened through my Treasured Polish Recipes Cookbook. Inspired by the classic apple pound cake I found there, and the recipes of Joan Nathan in her Jewish Cooking in America and The Foods of Israel Today, I went into my kitchen armed with my version of an old-world apple cake. Sweet, but not cloying, with just enough spice to evoke thoughts of the harvest season about to begin, this cake is an easy and delicious way to welcome in the Jewish New Year and a harvest season of bounty.
Recipe: Old World Apple Cake
1:24:20 PM 
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