Invisible Apple Cake (Gâteau Invisible)
The Invisible Apple Cake originates from France with a high popularity in Japan! The Japanese also incorporate miso paste into the batter for the extra flavor profile – sounds delicious to me. I personally did not have any on hand and made it the traditional way and loved it!
The aspect of this cake that makes it special is the thin slices of apples. I had never seen a cake use this technique and had to try it when I saw it. Simply peel and core your apples and slice them on a HAND HELD MANDOLINE. If you like this cake, you will love my gluten free Greek Yogurt Apple Cake.
For this recipe I suggest using a sweet tart apple like Fuji apples (what we used) or HoneyCrisp or Pink Lady apples. Since this is a sweet cake, stay away from Granny Smith apples which are more sour in taste.
Make sure you bake this until its done – mine took about an hour to get the golden crisp on the top. Since every oven is different, watch the loaf on about 50 minute mark. It will rise and be puffy but will deflate once it comes out of the oven and cools. I topped mine with a little powdered sugar sprinkle but you can also do a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture to sprinkle on top PRE-BAKE. For this, whisk together two tablespoons brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
If you like this recipe, you will love:
- 3 Ingredient Greek Yogurt Cake
- Traditional Greek Yogurt Cake
- Orange Olive Oil Cake
- 4 Ingredient Lemon Bread
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Invisible Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2/3 cup milk, slightly warmed
- 3 tbs butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 apples, (about 2 lbs)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 ℉. Line a 9×5" loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, quickly whisk together the eggs, milk, butter + vanilla. And then also quickly add in the flour, powdered sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and mix until smooth. Batter is supposed to be on the thin side.
- Peel, core and slice your apples REALLY THIN with a mandoline (I used Fuji apples but Honeycrisp or Pink Lady are great here too). Add them into the bowl and mix to coat all in the batter. Transfer the apples only to the pan, a little at a time, gently flattening out any pieces that are sticking up. Pour on the remaining batter to the top of the loaf pan evenly. Transfer to the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes. Or until the top is golden brown.
- Allow to set in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool for another 15 minutes. Optional: sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and slice to enjoy.
This was easy and DELICIOUS! I didn’t realize I was out of powdered sugar so I used granulated and cut back a bit. It was just for me and my partner so I was willing to risk it. THEN as I put it in the oven I realized I had left out the baking soda! It was very custard-y, and also very good. I’ll make it properly next time. The next day I heated it in a skillet with a little butter, and served it with some maple syrup and again it was wonderful! Like a very apple-y french toast.
Hi Amy, thank you so much for sharing your feedback with everyone! the french toast option sounds divine!! Cheers!
Amazing, my cake looked just like yours, thank you.
Using so many of our windfalls after a stormy week was a special treat.
We ate it with a little vanilla ice cream as dessert.
I had to bake for longer and it was still soft in the middle delicious almost like custard and apple.
oh, I almost forgot I used gluten free flour!
Hi Jo, Sounds delicious with the vanilla ice cream! And thanks for sharing your feedback here with the flour! Glad you enjoyed!
Made it w peaches and sliced blueberries. Excellent. It reminded me of a Dutch baby. Will make again. Thank you!
HI Pam, sounds awesome with peaches and blueberries! Thanks for sharing your version with us!
This is delicious I left mine in oven for 1hr 20min to get that golden top & it was still moist inside. I also used powdered sugar on top. One thing is it is pretty moist maybe better with ice cream next day after it has dried a little bit. I will definitely fix again.
Hi Teri, Yes, it definitely sets a little more the next day but overall has a custard like texture! Glad you liked it and thanks for the feedback!
Mine was also custardy. What ingredients can we change to make it more like a cake?
This sounds delicious. Does it taste and have a cake like texture or does it taste and feel like apple custard? I love cake but custard is not my thing. I’m debating on trying it due to the egg to flour ratio.
HI Jen, its more of a custard cake for sure.
Thank you. I’ll wait for the holidays when others can enjoy it.
I made this tonight, although delicious, it was very watery. I baked it for 1 hr 20 mins. I feel like it never set. Could it be i needed more flour? My custard mixture was also like someone else said, more like scrambled eggs consistency.
Hi Lisa, This particular cake is a custard base so it will be on the damper appearing side. Im not sure about the scrambled eggs comment though. I’m glad it was delicious though!!
Same here!
Loved it
Hi Connie, thank you so much! Glad it was enjoyed!
Like everything on this site, this recipe was DELICIOUS!!!
Hi Erika, you rock! Thank you so much for the kind message!
After reading some comments. I see the consistency is more custardy than cakey. Based on the picture I thought it looked more cakey so the 2nd time I made it I used a bit less apple. Still not cakey. Guess I should have read comments the first time. :). Should it be refrigerated and if so do you serve it cold if using the next day? Would you heat it. If so how?
Thank you
I feel like mine is undercooked. Do u suggest the toothpick method to gauge doneness? It looks great and the apples are perfect but the cake part is wet like custard.
Hi Robin, that’s what happened with mine too. This is a custard base cake so you will have that appearance
Same.
Can you use white sugar/castor sugar, raw sugar or brown sugar instead of icing powder/powdered sugar?
Hi Karen, yes I would use caster sugar as the best substitute here. But any sugar works
Delicious and easy to make!
Hi Valerie, thanks for trying it out!
I have a small toaster oven and a loaf pan will fit into it but, it tends to burn on the top before the loaf is done. I’m wondering if I could transfer this to a lower profile dish and bake that way. not sure what size pan or how long to bake if using a different dish. recipe sure looks delicious and I’m hoping to try it!
Hi Suzanne, this would definitely work in a lower more spread out pan like an 8 inch circle or 8×8 inch square brownie pan. I would do less time of course – probably 35-45 minutes. Please let me know how it turns out!
just made this cake and it is amazing! Super delicious and so easy to prepare. Thank you for such a perfect apple dessert. Big Hit.
Hi Mayra, happy to hear it! And thanks for trying it! <3
Do you think this recipe could be doubled for a Bundt pan recipe???
HI Kelly, I haven’t tried it but sounds like a great idea
Just made! I used a Cuisinart to slice the apples, it worked great!!
Hi Karen, that’s a great idea for the food processor to slice the apples – thank you for sharing your feedback!
What is the best type of 🍏 apple to use for this recipe?
Ie. Gala, Macintosh, Empire.
Thank you!
Hi Marissa, the best apples for this recipe are sweet ones like Fuji, HoneyCrisp or Pink Lady. Sorry I didnt include that in the recipe.. will update now! Cheers!