Apple-Potato Latkes With Cinnamon Sour Cream Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why apple sauce and sour cream with latkes? ›

Tart and fruity applesauce—unsweetened is best—cuts through the grease and lightens them right up, leaving you feeling perfectly satisfied, but not stuffed. Sure, sour cream is tart too, but since it's dairy, it can weigh down the latkes—adding unwanted heft to an already filling meal.

I will have to travel with them for two hours and latkes are only good as soon as you fry them. What can I do to keep the potato batter from turning brown? A: When shredding the potatoes be sure to add some acidity (such as a teaspoon of white wine vinegar or concentrated lemon juice to the water.

The potato pancake is much simpler, with nothing but raw grated potatoes, egg, and all-purpose flour. The latke, on the other hand, adds baking powder, matzo meal, and even a splash of milk, according to Cooktoria. Surprisingly, the potato pancake has a longer preparation time due to the simplicity of its batter.

Baking with Sour Cream: The creamy texture of sour cream makes baked goods more moist than if you used milk. This makes sour cream an excellent choice for recipes that are known to have drier results, like sponge cakes.

Sour Cream

Another substitute you can use instead of applesauce in baking is sour cream.

The Best Oil for Cooking Potato Pancakes

While I usually love cooking with olive oil, to pan-fry the potato pancakes, we need to use an oil that has a neutral flavor and high smoke point (olive oil is neither of these!). Canola oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, and grapeseed oil would all work.

Pre-Mix: Prep latke batter and keep in a sealable container in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

To keep a consistent deep golden brown on all the latkes while cooking, adjust the heat to maintain the oil temperature and avoid the latkes browning too quickly. After frying, place latkes on a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack and transfer to a 200°F oven to keep warm until ready to serve.

Fry in an oil with a high smoke point

Vegetable oil or canola oil is usually best, because of its high smoking point. Latkes were traditionally made with schmaltz, or chicken fat, so if you have access to it, you should certainly add it in, because it does contribute to the flavor.

How do you keep potato pancakes from falling apart? The egg and flour in this recipe help bind the potato pancakes and keep them from falling apart. Also, make sure they are fully cooked on one side before trying to flip them over. What ingredient keeps pancakes from falling apart?

Why do Jews make latkes? ›

These potato pancakes (called latkes) are meant to symbolize the miracle of Hanukkah, when the oil of the menorah in the ransacked Second Temple of Jerusalem was able to stay aflame for eight days even though there was only enough oil for one day. The symbolism comes in the form of the oil in which latkes are fried.

Of course we associate potato latkes with Hanukkah, but in reality latkes descends from Italian pancakes that were made with ricotta cheese. The first connection between Hanukkah and pancakes was made by a rabbi in Italy named Rabbi Kalonymus ben Kalonymus (c. 1286-1328).

In addition to apples' lengthy Jewish history, applesauce enjoys another key advantage: It's not dairy, so it can be served with latkes cooked in chicken schmaltz, a commonplace in the old country.

Or, you can grate the potatoes hours ahead and store them submerged in water in the refrigerator. Drain them well and make the batter up to two hours ahead.

Traditional lacy potato latkes can be flavored with onion, parsley, grated carrot, or apple, or made simply of seasoned shredded potatoes. When served as a course on their own, they are usually accompanied by applesauce and sour cream.

Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah by consuming fried foods like latkes, as well as other foods cooked in oil during the eight-day holiday. If you don't know what they are, latkes are similar to hash browns. Just as you would happily put ketchup on your hash brown, you should be putting applesauce on your latkes.

As the potato became popular in eastern Europe, it was quickly adopted to the point that today, latke is almost synonymous with potatoes. The latke is traditionally prepared during the Hanukkah holiday to commemorate the miracle of the oil in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem lasting eight days.