Jewish Apple Cake

There is a reason why this post has a picture of the cake still in the cake pan. I'm sure you all know why --- it came out one big mess!!!! I had found this recipe while checking out pictures on Tastespotting and it looked delicious. It was still in the pan in that picture, and also a mess. But it looked just soooo good that I had to make it. Pete over at http://www.peterandrewryan.com/ stated he had taken the cake out too early and that is why it crumbled all over. Now I did exactly as he stated and let the cake cool in the pan completely and it literally sealed itself to the bottom. When I finally did get it out the entire top of the cake was still in the pan. But I am posting it because it is THAT good. I really think it will come out fine if you let it rest in the pan maybe 45 minutes or so. Or perhaps baking it in a 9 x 13" pan and just cutting out squares. I am trying it again. There are also similar ones at Allrecipes and none of them stated that there was any difficulty getting the cake out of the pan. It's the season for apples!

3 cups flour

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup orange juice

2 cups plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided

3 tsp cinnamon

4 granny smith apples, cored, peeled and sliced

1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the butter, 2 cups sugar, vanilla and mix. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder. Add to the egg/butter mixture, alternating with the orange juice.

2. Pour about 1/3 of batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Lay down about 1/3 of the sliced apples, fanning them out to cover the entire layer of batter. Top with a bit of the mix of 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

3. Repeat this until you have run out of batter and apples. The top of the cake should have a layer of apples, cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Cool for a short time before loosening the sides with a knife. Allow to cool completely before removing the cake from the pan. (I would disagree since mine was cemented to it by that time).