Is it correct that you don't use the custard other than to soak the apples? Or can the remainder of the custard be added to the pan once the apples are in and arranged? Laura H.
The disappearing apple cake is my new favorite recipe. I have made it 3 times in 2 weeks with lots of requests for the recipe. I used 5 large apples because I found I liked it really apple ly. I divided the batter into two bowls and instead of coring the apples, I found it easier to start on one side (I used a mandolin) to get full size apple slices until I got to the core, then did the other side and finally the two short sides. I put the full sized slices in one bowl so I would have some to put on top.
I made the Invisible Apple Cake three times now and it has been delicious each time. I served one at Thanksgiving with the salted caramel sauce and everyone loved it. I am also trying an experiment and have frozen the "extra" cake. I will report back when I defrost it and try it. Thanks for the recipes and for keeping me smiling with your newsletters.
Ok! I made this, with vanilla and Calvados, in the 12x4 loaf tin (dark). It was fabulous. I made a dark salted caramel sauce to go with it as well. We all agreed that the caramel completely overwhelmed the delicate cake.
It was a large enough group but there were enough for some seconds.
I used a mandolin and the only thing was I needed to separate the slices to ensure they all had batter. I made the batter in the blender (it reminded me of crepe or similar sort of).
Mine took actually quite a while, about an hour. It was a beautiful golden color on top.
Great cake. I would go easy on the accompaniment, and definitely add a splash of vanilla and some liquor be it rum or brandy or Calvados.
David- great recipe! Thanks for making me look good yet again!!
I don't know how it would behave, once baked. Yogurt is quite acidic and doesn't have the fat of cream. If you do try it, let us know how it turns out!
David, I love the semantics. I am making this for our Thanksgiving (remember that) dessert. I did a trial run last week and found the cooking time needed to be longer. I used the narrow pan with Pink Lady apples. It is delicious in spite of being just a little al dente. I am thinking about putting a thin layer of black raisins on the middle layer. Sort of a play on American apple pies that add raisins along with that crappy cinnamon that I despise. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Thanks for all you do. I wish I had moved to Paris 50 years ago!
Thanks for chiming in. Baking times can really vary with differences in apples, ovens, pans, etc, so I always give visual and tactile clues first and then baking times, as a point of reference.
I've not seen anyone here adding raisins to it, but I think you could!
I swear all the effin’ time. I like it and in no way think it’s lesser than or a sign of a limited vocabulary. I also have a mandolin my brother gave me and love it. It has a handle thingy (ok so my vocab is not that great) so you can avoid shaving your knuckles but I do end up with weird shaped chunks of onion and so on. This recipe looks great and your photos are divine as always.
In a recent post you mentioned a type of spatula which had a shallow scoop built into it, which you had cited as discontinued. You may or may not be aware of a very similar utensil, ThermoWorks' "HiTemp Silicone Spoonula", which I swear by. Thanks for all your writings.
Made this today as written-absolutely delicious! It took almost 55 minutes in a 9” loaf pan. A quick question-can this be frozen? Thanks for the lovely recipe!
Baking times can vary (esp. things like glass vs. metal) so I always give visual or tactile clues first, and baking times to know when to check - but thanks for chiming in on how long yours took. I would not freeze it as I think the apples might get mushy.
You can put them into the pan right away. They don't need to soak for a long time. (I did see someone make this cake once where they piled the apples in the pan and poured the custard over them after but I think it works better to mix things up first) - glad you like the newsletter, too!
Amazing recipe! I have never seen this cake, but it's so much up my alley and cant wait to try it, especially as we are now in the Pink Lady season. Maybe this question has been answered before, but I was wondering can I use a silicon rubber loaf tin (from Ikea), and can I use it without the parchment paper? Nothing sticks to it and I use it often when baking banana bread, for example, but I didnt see you mentioning it. Anyway, thank you, David, for the recipe!
David, do you think I could substitute Fuyu persimmons?
Is it correct that you don't use the custard other than to soak the apples? Or can the remainder of the custard be added to the pan once the apples are in and arranged? Laura H.
Hi David,
I purchased a pair of cut resistant “mandolin slicer gloves” on Amazon. They actually work really well, are pretty comfortable and are washable:
https://a.co/d/7AzMnBT
Joyeuse fêtes
The disappearing apple cake is my new favorite recipe. I have made it 3 times in 2 weeks with lots of requests for the recipe. I used 5 large apples because I found I liked it really apple ly. I divided the batter into two bowls and instead of coring the apples, I found it easier to start on one side (I used a mandolin) to get full size apple slices until I got to the core, then did the other side and finally the two short sides. I put the full sized slices in one bowl so I would have some to put on top.
I made the Invisible Apple Cake three times now and it has been delicious each time. I served one at Thanksgiving with the salted caramel sauce and everyone loved it. I am also trying an experiment and have frozen the "extra" cake. I will report back when I defrost it and try it. Thanks for the recipes and for keeping me smiling with your newsletters.
Ok! I made this, with vanilla and Calvados, in the 12x4 loaf tin (dark). It was fabulous. I made a dark salted caramel sauce to go with it as well. We all agreed that the caramel completely overwhelmed the delicate cake.
It was a large enough group but there were enough for some seconds.
I used a mandolin and the only thing was I needed to separate the slices to ensure they all had batter. I made the batter in the blender (it reminded me of crepe or similar sort of).
Mine took actually quite a while, about an hour. It was a beautiful golden color on top.
Great cake. I would go easy on the accompaniment, and definitely add a splash of vanilla and some liquor be it rum or brandy or Calvados.
David- great recipe! Thanks for making me look good yet again!!
Recipe sounds great but
could I substitute greek yogurt for the cream? (I know that isn’t very French!)
I don't know how it would behave, once baked. Yogurt is quite acidic and doesn't have the fat of cream. If you do try it, let us know how it turns out!
David, I love the semantics. I am making this for our Thanksgiving (remember that) dessert. I did a trial run last week and found the cooking time needed to be longer. I used the narrow pan with Pink Lady apples. It is delicious in spite of being just a little al dente. I am thinking about putting a thin layer of black raisins on the middle layer. Sort of a play on American apple pies that add raisins along with that crappy cinnamon that I despise. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Thanks for all you do. I wish I had moved to Paris 50 years ago!
Thanks for chiming in. Baking times can really vary with differences in apples, ovens, pans, etc, so I always give visual and tactile clues first and then baking times, as a point of reference.
I've not seen anyone here adding raisins to it, but I think you could!
I’m going to make this as my second Thanksgiving day dessert. Got some me Honeycrisps yesterday at the green market.
I swear all the effin’ time. I like it and in no way think it’s lesser than or a sign of a limited vocabulary. I also have a mandolin my brother gave me and love it. It has a handle thingy (ok so my vocab is not that great) so you can avoid shaving your knuckles but I do end up with weird shaped chunks of onion and so on. This recipe looks great and your photos are divine as always.
In a recent post you mentioned a type of spatula which had a shallow scoop built into it, which you had cited as discontinued. You may or may not be aware of a very similar utensil, ThermoWorks' "HiTemp Silicone Spoonula", which I swear by. Thanks for all your writings.
Thanks. I've seen those and they do look good: https://www.thermoworks.com/tw-spoonula/
I did order something recently from them in the UK, but due to new customs rules/paperwork (due to Brexit) the order was returned to them : (
Made this today as written-absolutely delicious! It took almost 55 minutes in a 9” loaf pan. A quick question-can this be frozen? Thanks for the lovely recipe!
Baking times can vary (esp. things like glass vs. metal) so I always give visual or tactile clues first, and baking times to know when to check - but thanks for chiming in on how long yours took. I would not freeze it as I think the apples might get mushy.
Almost forgot: how long should the apple slices stay in the custard before layering them in the loaf pan? Thanks in advance, Kate
You can put them into the pan right away. They don't need to soak for a long time. (I did see someone make this cake once where they piled the apples in the pan and poured the custard over them after but I think it works better to mix things up first) - glad you like the newsletter, too!
Thank you David...now I have 2 reasons to drag out my KAF tea loaf pan (it's ceramic btw) this apple
recipe (that I think I saw recently on Dorie Greenspan's substack but don't recall if there was a recipe
with the photo)..and, have been meaning to make Romain's mother's chocolate cake in the tea loaf
pan. Keep on writing in your own style..it's why I subscribed in the first place. Peace Out, Kate
I love reading comments, but a bunch of them here are coming through as incomplete. How can you get the full comment to come up or is this a mistake?
I'm not having that issue so you may want to contact Substack to find out what's going on, and be sure to let them know what device you're having issues with, your phone or desktop: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/categories/360002411451-Readers
Amazing recipe! I have never seen this cake, but it's so much up my alley and cant wait to try it, especially as we are now in the Pink Lady season. Maybe this question has been answered before, but I was wondering can I use a silicon rubber loaf tin (from Ikea), and can I use it without the parchment paper? Nothing sticks to it and I use it often when baking banana bread, for example, but I didnt see you mentioning it. Anyway, thank you, David, for the recipe!
I've never used a silicone cake pan so can't say. But if you do try it, let us know how it works out!