It is Passover time – one of my favorite times of the year – specifically for this – oh, and don’t forget about this. It’s funny – but I look forward to making both of those recipes every year.  I haven’t found a new one in quite a while…until I went to Israel.  Hold that thought…

So, Monday night we had a wonderful Seder at my neighbor’s house.  They had 24 guests – which meant 48 matzo balls, because you can’t just have one.  As I was heading home from work, I saw an email from my neighbor about a bad accident that occurred in the neighborhood, causing a huge back-up on one of the main streets that takes you from the highway to our house.  Our neighborhood has been the target of many burglaries lately, a shooting, and bank robbery – which has caused the schools to go into lockdown and traffic to stand still.  But this was different.  It was a drunk driver.  He drove into 3 adults and an infant.  A mother, her 10 day old son, and her in-laws.  The grandparents died at the scene of the accident, and the mother and son were rushed to the hospital, where they remain in critical condition.  What a tragedy.  The biggest tragedy of all, this was not the person’s first time with a DUI.  It makes me sick.  Something must be done.  I actually found this link tonight on the internet – in case you want to do something to help the family – I certainly did.

Ok, back to the recipe.  When I was in Israel last week, they had a special toast to celebrate the beginning of Passover.  It is definitely a big deal there, and one of the women told me about a cake she makes for Passover.  Now for those of you who celebrate Passover, you know that for the most part – Passover cakes are not that delicious.   It is hard to make a Kosher for Passover cake that you would actually long to eat – you cannot use any leavening in the ingredients.  Over the years, some of the boxed mixes have gotten pretty good – but I always prefer to bake from scratch.  The other wrench in the process is, technically, if you are serving meat for dinner, the dessert must be dairy free as well – so that means no butter.  So, when I heard about this amazing cake – I had to give it a try.  I figured, with 24 people at the Seder, there can always be an extra dessert.  I baked this on Sunday in preparation, and I could tell it was going to be a winner.  I was a little nervous with the number of eggs – but it completely worked.  This cake was delicious, particularly for a Passover cake – although I must say, even if I didn’t celebrate Passover, I would have been very happy to eat this.  For those of you who are cinnamon lovers – this is definitely a cake for you.  Happy Passover!

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 pounds Golden Delicious Apples, peeled and sliced ​​into pieces (about 5 apples)
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Juice of one lemon

Dough

• 1 1/2 cups matzo meal
• 1/2 cup potato flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup canola oil 240ml (1 cup)

Topping

• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the filling by mixing the apples, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice until completely coated.  Set aside approximately 30 minutes.

Make the dough.  Whisk the matzo and potato flour.  Add the sugar and stir.  Add eggs and oil and blend with an electric mixture until the dough is uniform and very soft. Set aside for 20 minutes.

In a third bowl, mix the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon.

Assemble the cake. With wet hands, spread half the dough on the bottom of the pan. Spread the apples on top – without the liquid.  Place the rest of the dough over the apples and spread using wet hands or a spatula, cover the apples evenly.
Sprinkle the surface of the dough with the topping. Bake for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, until dough is golden.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Passover Apple Cake