Apple Cake That Unites Hearts. image: Essy Roz

These times shake us all.
Every person on earth wants to run to their mother right right now,
Snuggle inside her and hear that everything will be fine.

And me as well,
All I want is to be there,
In my mother’s arms.
So she could hug me tight
And we’ll fall asleep together and wake up another day,
A day full of optimism,
Where physical intimacy is allowed and everything is rosy and festive for my favorite spring holiday.

We have been in isolation at home for three weeks now,
Just me, Noy and Michael.

This morning my mother dropped by to bring us some vegetables she bought for us from the greengrocer.
She came as a surprise when we were playing in the garden,
Michael saw Grandma in her car and immediately ran to the gate of the house to hug Grandma because he missed her so
much.

I felt mixed and difficult emotions.
I picked him up and explained to him that these days we only hug mom and dad,
And soon, when it’s all over, we’ll be able to hug everyone,
Grandma and Grandpa and the uncles.

Of course, Michael received a full explanation of the situation in peace, containment and love.
He understood that now we say hello from afar and hug with our eyes.

The situation made me feel like I was losing the ground beneath my feet,
And the only way for me to feel I was standing on solid ground again, was to bake.

I entered the kitchen in tears,
I took 2 apples out of the fridge and cut them into small cubes,
Each cube got a tear.
When I finished cutting them, optimism began to seep into me.

I mixed the liquid ingredients and the dry ingredients and combined them.
Everything already felt better and the “cinnamony” smell that was in the air started to embrace me slowly.

I poured the batter into the pan and sprinkled my sugar coated apples on top.
I put it in the oven and felt a sigh of relief.
I summoned peace and joy,
And I reminded myself that it’s okay to cry,
It’s okay to contain different emotions and deal with them.

And so while staring for a long time at the cake that rises and spreads the most addictive smell in the universe throughout the house,
The emotions no longer flooded me,
They accompanied me and were there amidst the joy, peace and optimism.

This cake gave me such a big hug that I couldn’t pass up sharing its recipe.
It’s precisely for these days, so accurate that it’ll change all your feelings in an instant.
This is a cake of feelings,
A cake that says everything will be ok.
It’s a cake of hugs,
Hugs from mom and grandma,
Hugs from dad and grandpa,
Hugs from distant uncles or loved ones.
Any person you want to hug – this cake will give you that hug.

This cake hugged me,
Hugged Michael and me almost like a grandmother or mother would hug.
The thought that everyone is healthy is what sweetened my feelings even more.

This cake is just the right cake for the days we’re all going through,
A cake that unites broken hearts and grounds everyone who needs it.

All it takes is to step into the kitchen,
Heat the oven and take apples out of the fridge.
A few easy minutes of preparation and your home will also be filled with intoxicating and embracing smells of apples,
cinnamon and optimistic and peaceful days.

Healthy and happy days of hugs 🙂

Apple Cake That Unites Hearts. image: Essy Roz

Apple Cake That Unites Hearts

Ingredients: suitable for a wide rectangular pan 9.8” * 13.7” (25*35cm) / round pan 10.2” (26cm) diameter 

• 5 eggs
• ½ cup olive oil / coconut oil
• ½ cup non-dairy / dairy milk
• ½ cup sugar / sugarcane (for alternatives, have a look at “A little extra from me”)
• 1 heaping teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1½ cups almond flour
• ½ cup rice flour (for alternatives, have a look at “A little extra from me”)
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup white raisins
• ½ cup chopped walnuts / pecans / almonds
• 2 green apples (I recommend Smith’s green apples) cut into small cubes + 2 tablespoons sugar

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C) on turbo mode, and line a baking pan with parchment paper. The goal is for the cake to be low and not high, so choose a pan with relatively wide edges.
2. In a blender put all the liquid ingredients, the eggs, olive oil, milk, sugar and cinnamon and grind well. You can also mix everything with a whisk in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, almond flour, rice flour and baking powder, add the chopped walnut and raisins.
4. Combine the dry mixture with the liquid mixture and create a smooth and uniform mass.
5. Peel and cut our apples into small, sweet cubes. Mix the apple cubes and sugar and set aside.
6. Pour the batter into the baking pan, and spread our apple cubes evenly over it.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry from the cake.

Cool the cake a little, take it out of the pan and dust it with a little sugar powder.

A little extra from me:

• The cake can be kept in the fridge in a sealed box for up to 3 days.
• You can replace the rice flour with finely ground corn flour / oat flour / another ½ cup of almond flour.
• You can convert one of the flours in the cake to white flour / buckwheat flour (which contain gluten) or all the flours in the cake to 1¾ cups of white flour / buckwheat (which contain gluten). It’s important that you know that each change will give you a slightly different batter. The flavors will remain the same but the texture will change depending on the changes you make.
• If you want to replace the sugar with a liquid sweetener, you can replace it with ½ cup of maple syrup / ½ cup of agave syrup. If you choose to make this change, add another ½ cup of oat flour / almond flour. Note that the texture of the cake will slightly change.

Apple Cake That Unites Hearts. image: Essy Roz

Apple Cake That Unites Hearts. image: Essy Roz