3 days ago
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A dozen years ago I shared my mother-in-law’s recipe for apple sharlotka (which family just calls “apple thing”), a lightly sweetened apple dessert that’s as much a thick crêpe as it is a cake. It’s got a short ingredient list and is the kind of thing you make on a whim. It’s so rustic and simple, I honestly didn’t expect it to cause a ruckus — it’s not apple pie, crumb cake, or even my mom’s doorstop of an apple cake — but you surprised me. It has over 1000 comments and I’ve seen variations on it all over the internet. So where does this come in? I think of this as Sharlotka 2.0: Fancy Pants Edition.
A few years ago, I began spotting recipes around for gâteau invisible or invisible apple cake, named because the apples seem to disappear. I was stunned by their beauty. But I was even more fascinated when I realized how close the recipe was to sharlotka: They’re both mostly comprised of apples tethered by a simple batter of one cup of flour, three eggs, and one cup, or a little less, of sugar. The French version adds milk, which I found makes the batter softer. Some included baking powder, but I tested it with and without it, and did not find it to provide any notable lift. And some include a melted tablespoon or two of butter, which I see no reason to say no to.
The biggest difference is how the apples are cut — thin, very thin. Once you mix them with the batter, you can just pour it into the pan and shimmy the mixture as flat as possible. It’s going to still look great this way, but you likely won’t fit it all since they’re not as tightly packed. For a prettier appearance and a fuller cake, as seen here, use clean hands to arrange the apples slightly overlapped around the pan and spiral them into a flower in the center, which I couldn’t resist. I finished mine with a simple apricot jam glaze, but my friend David Lebovitz makes his with a salted caramel sauce, which would be incredible.
[Apologies if you were expecting this recipe in fall 2023 when I first teased it. I’m quite terrible at keeping to a schedule when there are newer, shinier recipes I want to chase next.]
Invisible Apple Cake (Gâteau Invisible)
Very key here is the size of your loaf pan because this will fill out every speck of it before it is done. Mine holds 6 liquid cups (or 1420 ml); it’s 8×4 inches on the bottom and 9×5 inches on the top. If yours is even slightly smaller or you’re nervous, go ahead and pour a little of the apple and batter mixture into a few muffin cups and bake them off. They will not go to waste.
- 2 1/4 to 1/2 pounds (1 to 1.15kg) apples, such as Granny Smith or Mutsu
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, any kind
- 2 tablespoons (40 grams) apricot preserves or apple jelly, warmed
- Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)
Heat oven: to 375°F (190°C).
Prepare pan: (See Note at the end about loaf pan size.) Coat the short ends of a loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray. Line the bottom and two long sides of the pan with a piece of parchment paper. Place loaf pan on a rimmed baking sheet, just in case there’s overflow.
Prepare apples: Peel and core your apples, then slice them very thin (about 1/8-inch or 1/3-cm thick). A mandoline (this is mine) works great for this. Place apples in a large bowl and gently toss with lemon juice.
Make cake batter: Melt butter in a medium bowl. Whisk in sugar and salt, then eggs and vanilla until evenly incorporated. Whisk in flour until smooth, then milk. Pour batter over sliced apples, then stir and turn the apples a few times so that they’re evenly coated. This is much easier to do with your (clean) hands.
Assemble cake: Once again, using your hands is easiest for this. Push about a dozen full slices to the side of the bowl for the final layer. Arrange the remaining apple slices slightly overlapped around the prepared loaf pan, pushing the straight edges against the sides for the neatest appearance. Use any smaller or broken apples to fill any center gap. By the time I’m down to just batter and a few scraps of apple, I just pour it over and then use my hands to push the pieces around until it’s level. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any trapped air bubbles. Use the apple slices you pushed aside to decorate the top, fanning them into a flower pattern if you wish.
Bake the cake: For 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter free and doesn’t feel like it’s spearing any raw/crunchy apples. Transfer to a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then brush top with warmed apricot preserves and let cool completely in the pan. The cake will be puffed at first, and will settle flat as it cools.
Serve: Once cooled to room temperature, use a knife to loosen the cake from the short ends of the pan. Use the sling of parchment paper around the longer sides of the cake to help lift it out of the pan. Remove parchment paper and transfer to a serving plate. Cut into slices. Dust with powdered sugar, if using.
Do ahead: This cake keeps fantastically in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. Bring back to room temperature before serving.
English (US) · 