12 apples, pared and sliced 1 c. sugar 1/2 lb. sweet butter 3 c. flour 1/4 t. salt minute tapioca 1 egg grated rind of 1 lemon 5 T. sour cream (when making cookies, use 1/2 milk and 1/2 sour cream) extra sugar apricot jam cinnamon walnuts, chopped Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over apples and let stand while preparing dough. Crumble together the butter, flour, salt and 3 tablespoons of sugar into a coarse mixture. Make a well in the center and add the egg and lemon rind; blend together. Add 4 tablespoons of the sour cream and blend. Add the rest of the sour cream, blending well. Knead dough on a floured board until smooth. Divide into 3 parts. Roll out 1 part of dough on lightly floured board. Place on bottom and partly up the sides of a greased large cake pan. Prick the dough with a fork. Sprinkle just enough minute tapioca to cover dough. Sprinkle dough with 1/8 cup sugar. Spread apples over and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and lightly with cinnamon. Roll out second part of dough quite thin and cover apples. Trim off excess and prick with fork. Spread with thick apricot jam. Roll out third part of dough (not so thin) and cut into long strips. Lay strips over top diagonally. Stir an egg white lightly and brush over strips. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and a little sugar. Bake 1 hour at 350°. The torte is the Jewish counterpart of the pie, with this difference: whereas in the pie, the filling plays the most important part, in the torte, the filling must share honors equally with the crumbly cookie dough crust that surrounds it. Like the pie, however, the torte may be filled with any kind of fruit, and instead of a top layer of dough, a lattice top may be used.

DOUGH: 1 c. sugar 1/2 c. shortening or butter 2 eggs 1/4 t. salt 1 c. liquid (juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange) 4 c. flour 2 t. baking powder FILLING: 5-6 large tart cooking apples, unpeeled juice of 1/2 lemon 3/4-1 c. sugar to taste 1 t. cinnamon Cream sugar and shortening well. Add eggs and beat thoroughly. Mix dry ingredients and add to batter alternately with the liquid, mixing thoroughly. Roll approximately half the dough on a floured board to 1/4" thickness. Place in greased 9 x 13 x 2" pan and spread the dough so it lines the bottom and sides of pan. (A larger pan can be used if desired. The recipe will make one 9 x 13 x 2" cake with a little dough left over for cookies. Half the recipe will fill an 8 x 8 x 2" pan.) To make filling, remove core from the apples and, without peeling, grate them on a very coarse grater; sprinkle with lemon juice and add sugar to taste. Amount will depend on the natural sweetness of the apples. Add cinnamon and mix well. Spread filling evenly over dough in pan. Sprinkle the top lightly with sugar cinnamon mixture. Roll other half of dough to 1/4" thickness. Place on top of layer of apples and pinch it against the sides of the pan to seal over filling. Sprinkle surface lightly with a few drops of water, then rather generously with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Mark off squares by cutting through the top layer of dough, just to level of apples. Prick the center of each square to allow steam to escape. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until lightly browned. This dough can be kept in the refrigerator for about 1 week and used as needed. It is also good for little cookies made with a cutter or rolled by hand, then dipped in sugar cinnamon mixture or nuts.

An attractive combination of cake and berries may be arranged in log cabin style. Make a cake in a thin sheet, cut in strips and pile up like a log cabin, filling the spaces and center with berries. Large strawberries or blackberries are better than small berries to use in this way. Powdered sugar should be served with the berries but sweet, ripe blackberries will need very little. Another way is to add sugar to the berries and pile the top of the whole with whipped cream for a roof. Any light sponge cake is suitable, or a tea cake may be cut in strips when fresh. A simple cake is made from 1/3 cup of butter creamed, with 1 cup of sugar. Add 1/2 cup of milk, 2 beaten eggs, 1 3/4 cups of flour and 2 level teaspoons of baking powder. Bake in a thin sheet in a small dripping pan. The most satisfactory cake with berries is a sponge cake.

Try this rule: Beat the yolks of 5 eggs well, add 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 saltspoon of salt, the juice and grated rind of 1/2 a lemon. Add 1 cup of pastry flour and the stiffly beaten whites of 5 eggs folded in carefully. Fill a pan 2/3 full and bake 1 hour. Cut in long, narrow slices after it is cold.