Prăjitură Turnată Cu Mere (Jammy Apple Bars)
Updated September 11, 2025
- Ready In
- 2 hr
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
8 medium Honeycrisp apples or another sweet and tart variety (about 4 pounds)
½ cup/100 grams plus ⅓ cup/66 grams granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
¼ cup/50 grams sunflower seed oil (or other neutral oil), plus more for brushing
¾ cup/95 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 large eggs
⅛ teaspoon fine salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup/52 grams whole milk
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
31 grams carbs; 24 milligrams cholesterol; 162 calories; 2 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 4 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 41 milligrams sodium; 2 grams protein; 23 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Peel the apples. In a large pot, grate the apples using the coarse side of a box grater. Add ½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar and place the pot over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the apples have softened, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla; set aside to cool.
- Step 2
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly brush a 9-inch square baking pan with oil and line with parchment paper. Brush the parchment paper with a bit of oil and add a bit of flour. Shake the pan to evenly coat the parchment paper with flour, then tap out the excess over the sink.
- Step 3
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, remaining ⅓ cup/66 grams granulated sugar and salt. Using an electric mixer (or stand mixer with the whisk attachment), whip the eggs, gradually increasing the speed, for about 3 minutes, until they become fluffy and reach a pale yellow color.
- Step 4
With the mixer running, slowly stream the oil to emulsify.
- Step 5
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Add half of the flour to the egg mixture and beat until incorporated. Add the milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the remaining flour and mix until incorporated.
- Step 6
Pour 1 cup batter into the baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes, until the top looks golden and the cake is springy to the touch.
- Step 7
Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, dollop the apple mixture on top of the baked cake in an even layer. Using an offset spatula, evenly spread the apple mixture until it reaches the sides of the pan.
- Step 8
Drizzle the remaining batter on top of the apple layer in an even layer. Tilt the pan, if needed, so the batter reaches the sides of the pan. Return to the oven and bake for 40 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch and has a golden brown color. If the top browns too quickly, cover the pan with a sheet of aluminum foil.
- Step 9
Cool in the pan until room temperature, then carefully lift the cake using the parchment and transfer to a cutting board; slice into 16 pieces. Dust with powdered sugar to serve.
Private Notes
Comments
I’m Romanian and grew up with this dessert. We pronounce this as: pruh-jee-too-ruh toor-nah-tuh coo meh-reh (the h is silent)
Wouldn’t that be redundant? It’s obvious the seeds don’t go in, the same way the egg shells don’t go in—which, also, is not usually mentioned in recipes. It’s easier to grate whole apples, no need to core them. Stop whenever the core hits the box grater, turn the apple on its other sides and repeat. Once you’re done grating the apple flesh, you’ll be left with the core and seeds. Obviously discard or compost them once you’re done.
How exciting to find my favorite childhood dessert recipe here. My Romanian mother perfected this recipe and uses soymilk to make it friendly for me, she also doesn’t peel our organic apples.
I don't understand how the prep/cook times work on many of these recipes. How is this 10 minutes prep? Even if every cooking step is counted as cooking not prep it'd take longer than 10 minutes to hand-grate 4lbs of apples, add, stir, etc.
My husband is Romanian and his grandmother used to make this dessert. He added two tablespoons of butter to the apples before reducing with the sugar at the beginning, which took 30 mins not 20. The bottom layer also took longer to bake than the top but I don’t think we used even amounts. I only had a 9x13 pan so I had to double the cake part of the recipe like another baker who commented. I was really excited to see this Romanian recipe in the NYT and hope for more in the future!
I made this and it came out really good! There are a lot of steps but it wasn't too complicated. The honeycrisp apples at my store looked yucky, so I used a mix of fujis and galas. I think I used the wrong side of the grater - I ended up with long-ish strings of apple. And I did have to ladle out a LOT of liquid when cooking them in the pot, there was no way it was all going to evaporate. So it didn't come out very jam-like. But it was still good and the bars cut and held together just fine.