Invisible apple cake

Method

1. Heat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 6½ and greaseand line your loaf tin with a generous overhang. Sift the flour and baking powder into a small bowl and whisk to combine. In another bowl, whisk the 30g melted butter until smooth, then gradually pour in the milk while whisking until the two are well combined.

2. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and glossy or until lifting the whisk leaves a thick ribbon of batter behind. An electric whisk makes this job much easier if you have one. Carefully fold the flour and baking powder mixture into the eggs and sugar until just combined. Add the milk-butter mixture, then mix until you have a smooth batter.

3. Carefully mix the thinly sliced apples into the batter, being careful not to break them and making sure all the fruit is coated. Layer up the batter-covered apple slices in your prepared tin so they overlap each other in an even manner. Get them all the way to the edges of the tin, pressing them down lightly as you go. Keep your most pleasing-looking slices for the top layer and, when you get there, arrange in a scalloped pattern.

4. Ensure the final layer of apple slices isn’t submerged in batter. At this point, there should be around 1cm to the top of the tin. Knock the base of the tin on the work surface a couple of times to bash out as many air bubbles as you can. Sprinkle the top with a little more sugar, then bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is a deep golden brown and a toothpick pushed into the centre comes out clean.

5. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack using the baking paper to lift it out. Allow to cool completely. It’s best to chill the cake a little before slicing to ensure you get a clean-looking slice.