There is no particular history associated with apple latkes that I can find, but they make a great accompaniment to any Hanukkah meal. Here are a few of my favourite recipes.
DAIRY APPLE LATKES
(makes 12)
2 large tart, unpeeled, cored apples cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk*
1 tbsp melted butter*
1. In a bowl, combine apples, brown sugar and cinnamon.
2. In another bowl, mix flour, sugar and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, combine egg, milk or non-dairy creamer and butter or margarine. Stir into flour mixture to form a thin batter. Fold in apple mixture.
4. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each latke. Flatten with a spatula and fry until lightly brown. Turn.
5. Drain on paper towels.
6. Serve with sour cream, or a bowl filled with one tablespoon of cinnamon combined with half a cup of sugar.
(*To make this pareve, substitute with non-dairy creamer and pareve margarine.)
APPLE PANCAKE
(This recipe came from Aliza Begin, the wife of Menachem Begin, with the compliments of the Prime Minister’s Bureau in the 1970s.)
2 large tart apples
2 eggs
2 tbsp flour
dash sugar
dash cinnamon
oil
1. Peel and grate apples coarsely into a bowl.
2. Beat eggs slightly in another bowl and add to apples with eggs, flour, sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan. Pour batter into pan. Fry until golden on both sides.
4. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve warm.
APPLE LATKES
(This recipe came from Light Jewish Holiday Desserts by Penny Wantuck Eisenberg and appeared in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle many years ago. It makes 24 pancakes.)
1 large apple, peeled, cored and cut into large hunks
1 lemon, halved
1 cup flour
4 tbsp sugar
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp canola oil
1. Place apple pieces in a shallow bowl and squeeze lemon juice over.
2. Finely chop apples in a food processor. Measure 2 cups, and place in a bowl.
3. Place flour and three tablespoons sugar in processor and pulse to blend. Add two egg whites, milk and oil and process until smooth. Stir in apples.
4. Beat the other two egg whites in a mixer bowl until foamy. Add one tablespoon sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold batter into egg whites.
5. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and heat. Make two-inch pancakes from batter by tablespoon. Cook 40 seconds, turn, press down and cook until pancakes are cooked through.
6. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with sugar and serve.
Sybil Kaplan, z”l, was a Jerusalem-based journalist and author. She edited/compiled nine kosher cookbooks and was a food writer for North American Jewish publications, including the Jewish Independent. We communicated regularly, but mostly in the leadup to a holiday issue. Not having heard from her in advance of this Hanukkah paper, we reached out, getting the sad news that Sybil recently passed away. It was a pleasure working with her for these past 20+ years and we will miss her. She always provided more stories than we could use, so, in this issue, we run a few we had yet to publish, honouring her in our way. May her memory be for a blessing.