LESSON OBJECTIVES AND OUTLINE FOR TEACHERS
I. LESSON OBJECTIVES
- Peel, core, chop and measure out apples.
- Use the food processor.
- Boil water.
- Measure and combine ingredients.
- Cream shortening and sugar in an electric mixer.
- Sift dry ingredients.
- Alternately add dry and liquid ingredients to a recipe.
- Prepare icing and ice a cake with a “drizzled on” icing.
II. KITCHEN ORGANIZATION: TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
A. TIMING
1. Since there will not be enough time to bake and cool the cake before icing, it is necessary to bake one ahead. While theirs is in the oven, the students will ice the one that is already made. If there is only one class, you may want to have them make a double batch of icing so the second one can be glazed when it comes out. If there is more than one class, it can be iced by the next class. If it is necessary to leave directly after class, take the pan home unbaked and finish immediately at home. The uncooked batter should not stand more than an hour. The cake also freezes well when unglazed and can be used on another day by another class.
2. The class is divided into three groups so that several activities can take place at the same time and each group has two sets of activities to perform. If they perform their tasks efficiently, everything should flow smoothly. Students who finish early and don't wish to observe the rest of the class can work on cleaning up.
B. TECHNIQUES
1. I teach the students to use a sharp vegetable peeler rather than a paring knife to peel apples. It is easier to manage, takes off less of the apple, and is not as likely to cause cuts to the fingers. To core and section the apple, use a divided metal apple corer/slicer. Make sure you train them to keep their fingers out from underneath it as they press down.
2. I sift using a medium sieve with a handle. Measure the dry ingredients into the sieve which is placed over a deep plastic bucket and then stir with a metal spoon until all has come through into the bucket.
3. The paste for the icing should be very thick and drip very, very slowly or eventually, it will run off the sides of the cake. That is why the liquid is to be added a few drops at a time. If it accidentally becomes too thin, add more confectioners sugar until it is the right consistency. If you make a “ribbon” with the icing, you should be able to count to ten before it disappears into the remainder for it to be the proper consistency.
III. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
A. Apples dipped in honey are eaten with almost every meal during Rosh Hashanah to insure a sweet year. Honey can have many different flavors depending on the trees, plants, and flowers that the bees pollinate in a particular area. Orange blossom honey is completely different in both flavor and color from buckwheat honey, for example. In some stores that stock different kinds of honey, it is possible to buy samplers of many different kinds to try. Some of the kinds that are available are: orange blossom, clover, buckwheat, blueberry, cantaloupe, and tulip poplar. Since honey is a significant part of the Rosh Hashanah celebration, this might be a good time to bring the different kinds of honey to the students’ attention and perhaps have a honey sampling session.
B. Apples also come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors. Present the students with several different types of apples and slice them for the students to sample. Discuss the fact that certain apples are better for cooking because of tartness, or firmness, or texture. More than likely, there will be differences of opinion about which apples are the best for eating. By sampling many different kinds, each student will know which apples appeal the most to his/her own personal taste.
MATERIALS FOR APPLE HONEY CAKE
- vegetable shortening
- brown sugar
- 1 dozen eggs
- 1 lb. honey
- 2 t. grated lemon peel
- 8 c. flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- allspice
- instant coffee
- shelled walnuts
- non-stick spray
- 1 box confectioners sugar
- red cinnamon candies
- apple juice
- sugar
- 6 medium golden delicious apples (2 cups chopped)
- 1 unglazed cake (ingredients included above)
- mixer
- 2 vegetable peelers
- 1 apple corer slicer
- 2 sharp knives
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 bundt pan—full size
- food processor
- small custard cups
- sifter or sieve
- white plastic buckets large & small
- large spoons
- cake tester
- cardboard cake circles
- wooden spoons
- waxed paper
- aluminum foil
- paper towels
- dish cloths
- dishwashing liquid
- dish towels
- pot holders
FOR THE STUDENTS:
ROSH HASHANAH
“ …[A]t Rosh Hashanah Jews approach God through the use of symbols (the shofar, for example). ….Symbolic expression is also in evidence through the special foods (they) sample at the start of the Rosh Hashanah evening meals. On these occasions, God’s blessing is sought through the very foods which are eaten. …It is told that when the Babylonian scholar Hai Gaon (939-1039) left the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, his students would bring him a basket filled with different fruits over which he recited various blessings and Biblical verses. …Before tasting particular fruits and vegetables, an appropriate prayer for each kind, beginning with the Hebrew words yehi ratson (may it be Thy will) is uttered. Included among the special foods are dates, pomegranates, apples dipped in sugar or honey, pumpkins. …The Sephardic table on the New Year also offers a variety of candies, cakes and pastries to symbolize our desire that the forthcoming year will be a sweet one. …Sweet dates are served to symbolize the wish that the New Year will be equally sweet. …They dip the dates in a mixture of ground sesame seeds, aniseeds and powdered sugar. (Apples are also dipped in this mixture.) …Every pomegranate, it is said, contains exactly 613 seeds, precisely the number of mitzvot, Biblical commandments, Jews are obliged to fulfill. …The apple's roundness symbolizes a hope that the New Year will be joyous from the beginning until it goes full circle. Dipping an apple in honey expresses a wish for a sweet New Year. …Food made with pumpkin is served to express the hope that as this vegetable has been protected by a thick covering, God will protect us and gird us with strength.1
APPLE HONEY CAKE
- 2/3 c. vegetable shortening
- 3/4 c. brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 c. honey
- 2 t. grated lemon peel
- 3-1/2 c. flour
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 1/2 t. nutmeg
- 1/4 t. allspice
- red cinnamon candies
- apple juice
- 1/2 c. warm coffee
- 2 c. peeled, cored and chopped golden delicious apples
- 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
- non-stick cooking spray
- 2 c. 10 X confectioners sugar
GROUP 1
1. Peel, core and chop apples and measure out 2 cups.
GROUP 2
2. Boil water. Measure out 1/2 cup and add 1 T. of instant coffee and stir to dissolve. Spray bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
GROUP 3
3. Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Chop and measure out walnuts and set aside. Measure out honey and add lemon peel. Add eggs to creamed shortening and sugar mixture one at a time. Add honey and lemon peel to creamed mixture.
GROUP 2
5. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Add to creamed mixture alternately with coffee, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
GROUP 1
6. Stir chopped apples and walnuts into batter. Pour into greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour 10 minutes until cake tests done.
GROUP 3
7. Make a paste by adding apple juice to powdered sugar (IOX confectioners sugar) A FEW DROPS AT A TIME and stir. If you make a “ribbon” with the icing, you should be able to count to ten before it disappears into the remainder for it to be the proper consistency. Drizzle cooled cake with this paste so that it drips down the sides and center and decorate with red cinnamon candies.
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1Text from Gilda Angel, Sephardic Holiday Cooking with an introduction by Rabbi Marc Angel (Mount Vernon, New York: Decalogue Books 1986), p. 16 - 19.
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