As St. Patrick’s Day comes close, I always pull out my favorite Irish cookbooks. I have been cooking out of Margaret Rudkin’s Pepperidge Farm Cookbook for years; my dog-eared copy was published in 1963 and has long been out of print. The author was the founder of Pepperidge Farm (she started in her kitchen, then moved to her garage and bought her first factory in 1940). I wanted to post a good Irish dessert recipe this year, and found a yummy one in this book which I adapted to modern cooking methods. The following Irish Apple Kuchen was easy to put together because I made the yeast dough in my automatic bread machine, then topped the dough with a tart/sweet filling. If you like it sweeter, you can drizzle it with a glaze made of powdered sugar, cream, and soft butter.

Of course they actually use Bramley apples in Ireland (Rudkin’s recipes came from her Irish grandmother), and the closest we have in the US are Granny Smith; you can use your favorite baking apple, however.

12 Servings



Dough:
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons dry milk powder
3 eggs
3-3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 tablespoon dry yeast

Filling:
4 medium Granny Smith Apples, or other tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices

2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Place the dough ingredients in the pan of an automatic bread machine. Set the machine to the dough cycle. Let the cycle run for 10 minutes; check to make sure the dough is formed into a soft ball. If the ball is stiff, add a little more water - if the ball is too soft or it doesn't for a ball, add a little more flour.
2. When the cycle has finished. Spray a 10" springform pan with non-stick spray, line the bottom with parchment, then spray the parchment.
3. Pat the dough evenly onto the bottom of the pan. Arrange the apples decoratively over the top of the dough.
4. Make the topping: Mix the sugar, butter, flour, and cinnamon until it resembles small crumbs. Sprinkle over the apple slices
5. Let the assembled cake sit while the oven heats to 350°. Bake the Kuchen 45-60 minutes or until baked through and the apples are tender. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes; Remove the sides of the pan, slide onto a serving platter. Serve warm.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 399 Calories from Fat 138
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 35% Protein 6% Carb. 59%

Nutrient Amount per
Total Fat 15 g
Saturated Fat 9 g
Cholesterol 90 mg
Sodium 261 mg
Total Carbohydrate 59 g
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Sugars 19 g
Protein 6 g

Vitamin A 13% Vitamin C 7% Calcium 0% Iron 6%