Make This Apple Cake for the August Feast Days
And Eat It On Top of a Mountain
Due to the earth’s bounty at harvest time, August turns out to be one of the richest months of the year for liturgical living activities. Orthodox Christians bless baskets of fruit in church on Transfiguration (August 6), as well as flowers and herbs on Dormition (August 15). Other lesser-known, but just as lovely, traditions for this time of year include: hiking to the top of a mountain on Transfiguration, blessing honey on the Procession of the Cross (August 1), and blessing hazelnuts on the Icon Not Made By Hands (August 16). I have been wanting to share about these quirky, beloved Russian traditions, so today, I will share some information on the “Three Feasts of the Savior” in August—the Procession of the Cross, the Transfiguration, and the Icon Not Made By Hands—as well as a recipe which nods to all three of these feast days by incorporating honey, apples, and hazelnuts. (Got extra time on your hands? Consider baking this cake, bringing it on a hike up a mountain and sharing it as a picnic!)
August 1: The Procession of the Life-Giving Cross & The Baptism of Rus’
In Constantinople, various sicknesses often spread in the late summer. Asking God for His mercy to stop the spread of disease and to heal the sick, on this day each year, the citizens of the city would begin a long procession up and down every street and alley of the empire’s capital, carrying the Cross of the Lord, in order to sanctify and cleanse the entire area. The procession lasted for two entire weeks, the duration of the Dormition Fast (August 1-14).
Also, on this day in A.D. 988, St. Prince Vladimir received baptism, and baptized the Kievan people (the city of Kiev was the capital of Kievan Rus’, or simply Rus’, from which we get the name “Russia”). In honor of this anniversary, priests in the Slavic traditions conduct a Lesser Blessing of Water service on this day.
Because of the association of the baptismal anniversary with water, Russian peasants would dig and clean their wells on or around this day. This was also the time of year to gather and taste the summer honey, so, many parishes blessed honey in addition to water. In Russian, this feast day is colloquially known as the “First Savior,” the “Savior of the Water,” and “The Savior of the Honey.”
August 6: The Transfiguration of the Lord
I am sure you are already familiar with this feast! On this day, as documented in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, Christ took His three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, and revealed His divine glory to them upon Mount Tabor, appearing exceedingly bright (shining with the Uncreated Light) in order to strengthen their faith before His coming Passion and Crucifixion. The Transfiguration is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Church.
Because this feast falls at the beginning of harvest, it captured the Russian imagination as the day when nature begins to “transfigure” from summer to autumn. Traditionally, Russians waited until Transfiguration to eat apples, as well as other fruits of the new harvest. They would first bring these fruits to church for a blessing, along with ears of corn. The blessed corn kernels were saved for planting the following spring, while the blessed apples were often placed on the graves of relatives. Fasting cakes and pies (since Orthodox Christians are now in the middle of the Dormition Fast, when we abstain from meat, eggs and dairy) were baked on this day using apples, mushrooms and berries. Peasants spent this evening singing folk songs and dancing in fields until sunset.
Today, most Orthodox parishes still bless fruit on Transfiguration, especially apples in the Russian tradition, and grapes in the Greek, Antiochian, and southern Slavic traditions. It is colloquially known in Russian as the “Second Savior” or “The Savior of the Apples.”
August 16: The Image “Not-Made-By-Hands” of our Lord Jesus Christ
This feast dates to the time of Christ: King Abgar, ruler of Edessa, was stricken with leprosy all over his body and could not find healing. However, the king had heard of Christ, believed in Him, and wrote Him a letter asking Him for healing. He sent the letter to the Lord via a messenger, the portrait painter Ananias, charging Ananias to come back with a portrait of the Lord. Ananias arrived where a huge crowd was listening to the Lord’s preaching, and was therefore unable to get close enough to make an accurate portrait of Him for the king. However, Jesus saw Ananias and summoned him by name. The Lord gave Ananias a short letter for King Abgar in which He praised the king’s faith, and promised to send him one of His disciples to both heal him of the leprosy and guide him towards salvation.1 He then asked for water and a cloth to be brought to Him. Washing His face and drying it with a cloth, He miraculously left His image on the cloth. This became the first icon of Christ, known as the Icon Not Made By Hands. The Lord gave the image on the cloth to Ananias, who then took it back to King Abgar. The king pressed the holy icon to his face, and was healed of the leprosy except for a small remnant. This remnant remained until the later arrival of St. Thaddeus the Disciple to Edessa, when he healed the last of the king’s leprosy, and baptized him as well as the rest of the Edessan people. The king finally framed the icon, decorated it with pearls, and hung it above the gate to the city of Edessa with the inscription, “O Christ God, let no one who hopes on Thee be put to shame.” The icon hung there at the gate to the city for many years. (What happened next? The rest of the story is a tale for another time!)
In honor of the Icon Not Made By Hands, this was a traditional day in Russia for buying and selling linen and other types of cloth. On this day, it was also customary to bake bread using the first wheat of the new harvest. Finally, it is the time of year that hazelnuts begin to ripen, and according to tradition this was the first day for harvesting them. Thus, in some parishes hazelnuts were also blessed on this day. The feast is known colloquially as the “Third Savior,” the “Savior of the Bread,” and the “Savior of the Hazelnuts.”
Most Orthodox parishes bless fruit on Transfiguration to this day, and a limited number also bless honey on August 1, but I do not know of any that bless hazelnuts on August 16. Hazelnuts, also called filberts, can be hard to acquire in American grocery stores, and liturgical customs arise partially because they are tied to the land–they are a way of sanctifying and offering the everyday experience of people back to God who gave it to them. So, feel free to bless whatever fruit is local to you on Transfiguration! Here in Northern California, wild blackberries grow rampant anywhere near where there might be a small body of water. Last year, I was able to pick several pounds of blackberries just from our backyard and up and down our lane, so I filled up a basket for blessing just with them. What fruits are characteristic to your region at this time of year? Consider harvesting them yourself if possible, or buying from a local farmer, and filling your Transfiguration basket with that! If, however, you would also like to participate in these old Russian traditions, you could put the all three ingredients for our recipe today (apples, hazelnuts, and honey) in your Transfiguration basket, or just use them without blessing them.
I heavily adapted this vegan cake recipe from “Spiced Apple and Almond Cake” in The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein. This lovely book is full of absolutely delicious, healthy, and natural recipes for vegan dishes which we can enjoy during the Church’s fasting seasons, like the Dormition Fast. No dry and crumbly vegan cake, this. Bananas, honey, and oil all lend sticky, rich moisture, while apple chunks and chopped nuts add texture (the apple chunks even caramelize on the sides of the pan, like a pudding). Even before the cake is done baking, the zing of freshly zested and squeezed lemon wafts out of the oven. This cake truly speaks of the goodness of God!
This is an ideal recipe to make as part of a liturgical living group, to share the love with others. If you don’t have access to hazelnuts, just substitute almonds. If you aren’t fasting, you can also substitute melted butter for oil, and throw in an egg or two for even more body.
Spiced Apple, Hazelnut and Honey Cake for the August Feast Days
4 cups peeled, cored, and diced apples
1¾ cups sugar
Zest and juice of one lemon (about 2 tablespoons of juice)
½ cup sunflower seed oil or other neutral oil
½ cup honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon hazelnut extract (optional if you have it–otherwise, use more vanilla)
1 mashed ripe banana
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 cups (240 grams) any kind of all-purpose flour (I used einkorn)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped hazelnuts (or almonds)
Powdered sugar
Tip: When measuring the half-cup of oil and honey, first pour the oil, then the honey. I learned this trick from my favorite contemporary cookbook author, Leanne Brown. Greasing the measuring cup in this way will allow you to get out all the honey you pour in, not wasting any. Did you know that a honeybee produces less than ⅛ teaspoon of honey in her whole life?
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9” x 13” or similarly shaped flat baking pan.
Combine the apples, sugar, and lemon zest and let stand for a minute. Add the oil, honey, vanilla and hazelnut extracts, and lemon juice. Stir until well incorporated. Add the mashed banana and sprinkle the chia seeds evenly all over. Once again, stir until everything is incorporated.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to the apple mixture and stir just until the flour disappears. Add the chopped hazelnuts and stir gently until they are evenly distributed.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The cake should be quite firm to the touch in the middle, and a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out almost clean.
Let the cake cool and sprinkle it with powdered sugar before serving.
(Optional) Bring on your mountain hike with friends and share!
For more resources on celebrating the Transfiguration, visit:
7 Ideas for Holy Transfiguration with Your Family by Khouria Destinie Winn
Festal Learning Basket: Transfiguration by Charming the Leaves from the Trees
Climbing Your Mt. Tabor Study Journal by Family Chotki
We didn’t really talk about celebrating the Dormition in this post, but it’s definitely just as big of a deal as the Transfiguration! (Literally…they both have a one-day forefeast and an eight-day afterfeast!) For resources on celebrating “our Mother’s funeral,” as my childhood priest called it, check out:
Dormition Fast Resource Guide by Khouria Destinie Winn
Edible Flower Shortbread Cookies for the Dormition of the Theotokos by Khouria Destinie Winn
Dormition Tea by Khouria Destinie Winn
Troparion of the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Thou wast transfigured upon the mount, O Christ God, / revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. / Let Thine everlasting Light shine upon us sinners, / through the prayers of the Theotokos. / O Giver of Light, glory to Thee!
How do you celebrate the August feast days? Leave a comment!
The text of the letters between King Abgar and Christ appears in The History of the Church by Eusebius (AD 324). The exact location is Book 1, Chapter 13, and it is available to read for free here.
Yum! Looks delicious
Our apples are just coming ripe, so I'm going to try this apple cake recipe. Thanks for sharing!