Aunt Janina Walczak's Apple Cake

as translated by Anna Walczak
and interpreted by Richard (Michael Stanislaw Walczak) Lonergan

serves 8

1/4 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
4 eggs, separated
1 cup cake flour (or "00" flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large Granny Smith apples, each peeled, cored and cut into 6 pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform cake pan.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar, water and vanilla. Add egg yolks, and beat for 4 minutes. Thoroughly mix the flour and baking powder; gradually add to the liquid and mix well.

Whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Add one tablespoon of sugar at the final stage of whipping. Stir the whipped whites into the batter. Pour into the buttered cake pan. Stick the apples in the batter.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Dick's newly-found Uncle Marian and Aunt Janina live in Warsaw. Marian is the only surviving sibling of Dick's father, Stanislaw, who died in England during World War II before Dick was born. Anna, their daughter, who is Dick's cousin, translated for us. Her English is very good. In Polish, this is called a "szarlotka." They served this (and a lot of other food and alcohol) when we met for the first time this year during our visit to Poland.