This year, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins at sundown on Christmas Day. To celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah, I want to share my recipe for Hanukkah cake. It’s really easy, made with traditional seasonal ingredients like cinnamon and apple and fills the house with seasonal smells while it cooks. If you have time, give it a go and enjoy.
Hanukkah Cake
300g sugar
+ 60ml sugar set aside separately
70g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
180g cream cheese
2 eggs
350g plain flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 medium apples chopped into large pieces (either do this immediately before you add them, or you can do them earlier and put them into water with a little lemon juice to stop them going brown)
1 Preheat oven 350f/180c/170fan/gas 4.
2 Prepare an 8” baking tin by greasing it with a little butter.
3 Beat together the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and 300 ml of sugar
4 Add the eggs
5 In a separate bowl, mix together the flower with the baking powder and salt.
6 In a small bowl, mix together 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon with the rest of the sugar (60ml). Stir 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar mixture into the flour mixture and save the remaining cinnamon and sugar mix for the topping.
7 Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture into a smooth batter and fold in the chopped apples.
8 Pour the batter into the baking tin and smooth the top and sprinkle over the cinnamon and sugar you saved earlier.
9 Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes until the cake pulls away slightly from the edges of the baking tin.
10 Cool and serve.
Wishing everyone on TiBB a very Merry Christmas to you and yours, and health and happiness in the coming year.
All that remains is to post a seasonal message from the leader of the free world, President Elect Trump. @
Alf and @
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