Even if all the things that people prayed for happened – which they do not – this would not prove what Christians mean by the efficacy of prayer. For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted. And if an infinitely wise Being listens to the requests of finite and foolish creatures, of course He will sometimes grant and sometimes refuse them. Invariable "success" in prayer would not prove the Christian doctrine at all. It would prove something more like magic – a power in certain human beings to control, or compel, the course of nature.

C.S. Lewis

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Eggs		Cakes	1	Servings

INGREDIENTS

8		Small apples
1/2	c	Raisins
2	ts	Rum or rum extract
3/4	c	Sugar; plus 3 tbsp, divided
1	ts	Chocolate; grated
3/4	c	Butter or margarine; plus 2 sp, divided
1	ts	Vanilla
3		Eggs
1	ts	Lemon extract
1 1/4	c	All-purpose flour
1	ts	Baking powder
1/2	ts	Cinnamon
3	ts	Almonds; ground
		Apricot jam
		Powdered sugar; sifted

INSTRUCTIONS

Filling: Peel and core apples. Combine raisins, rum, 1
tablespoon of the sugar and the grated chocolate in
small saucepan. Bring to boil. Set aside while
preparing batter. Batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease bottom of 10 1/2" springform pan. Cream
3/4 cup of the butter, 3/4 cup of the sugar and
vanilla together. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, and lemon
extract, beating until light and fluffy. Sift flour,
baking powder and cinnamon together. Gradually beat
into creamed mixture. Turn batter into prepared pan;
arrange apples on top. Fill apple centers with raisin
mixture. Dot with 2 teaspoons of the butter. Bake @
350 degrees, 45 minutes. Sprinkle with mixture of
ground almonds and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake
10 to 15 minutes longer until apples are tender.
Remove from oven. Brush jam over apple opening and
sprinkle icing sugar over cake portion.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“Do you only BELIEVE in God? How about loving him!”