Forbidden Fruit? Apple Cake

April 1, 2011

Since the original Hebrew says only “fruit,” there seems to be room for conjecture, and throughout the ages, much attention has been given to determining just exactly which fruit can be blamed. Jewish sages have weighed in heavily against the apple and have suggested a variety of substitutes: pomegranate, fig, grape, citron, and even carob. Perhaps the most interesting is the suggestion that the offending food was wheat. Some rabbis have taught that khitah, the Hebrew word for wheat, comes from the same root as khet, the word for “sin,” creating the kind of play on words that is common in rabbinic teaching. Considering that wheat can not be considered a fruit, this idea leaves much to be desired.

In Christianity, on the other hand, many seemed to like the idea of the apple, while the fig was its only competitor. Some believe that those early scholars who favored the apple did so because of another play on words, this time in Latin. The Latin word for evil is malum, which interestingly enough is also the word for apple. They may also have been influenced by the view of the apple in the non-Christian world, which considered it a symbol of desire, fertility, greed, and even insanity in some countries.

The fig gained favor with some with its rather racy reputation established in Greek mythology. Even Michelangelo, when painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, depicted the offending fruit as a fig, but it just couldn’t stand up against the competition. Throughout the Renaissance period, art and literature increasingly used depicted Adam, Eve, and the serpent with a shiny, red apple.

Despite the controversy, the apple has held a place of importance in Jewish tradition, most commonly seen as an ingredient in haroset (one of the symbolic foods for Passover) and dipped in honey at Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets). The sages have taught that the apple’s use in these traditions represents the transigent nature of the here and now. If you don’t finish your apple today, by tomorrow, it will be brown, mushy, and inedible. Honey, on the other hand, represents the permanence of history. In combining the two, we find a picture of the nature of Judaism: insuring that modern life is viewed within the context of its historical foundations—young and old, past and present pointed toward the God that is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

By Cheryl Hauer, International Development Director

Apple Cake

4 eggs
2 cups (400 g) sugar
1 cup (250 ml) oil
Quarter of a cup (50 ml) orange juice
3 cups (375 g) flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp (14 g) baking powder
1 cup (100 g) chopped nuts optional
4 apples thickly sliced
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Beat eggs, 2 cups sugar, oil, juice and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Mix wet ingredients with the dry. Add nuts. In another bowl, mix sliced apples together with the 3 tsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.

Pour 1/3 batter into greased and floured Bundt pan (ring-shaped with hole in the middle). Layer half of the sliced apples mixture over batter. Pour over apples another 1/3 of the batter. Layer the remaining apples and cover with remaining batter.

Bake at 350˚ F (175˚ C) for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while warm.

_{From Simply Israel by Gila Levine}

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