Butter-Free Apple Sauce Cake

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g unsweetened apple sauce
• 3 eggs
• 80 g light brown sugar (10 g of it for the top)
• 100 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 220 g plain flour
• 1 sachet baking powder (11 g)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 apple (about 150 g)
• 1 tsp rapeseed oil (for the tin)

🍴 Utensils

• 22 to 24 cm round cake tin
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Bowl
• Chopping board
• Knife

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (170 °C fan). Oil the tin using kitchen paper soaked in oil, then dust it lightly with a pinch of the flour, tapping out the excess.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with 70 g of the sugar for 2 minutes, until the mixture turns paler and slightly frothy. This is the step that makes the cake light without butter.
3. Add the apple sauce and milk, then whisk until smooth. It's normal for the mixture to be quite runny at this stage: the flour will thicken it.
4. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add to the wet mixture in two batches and gently fold in with the whisk, just until there are no lumps or traces of flour left.
5. Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the top. Wash the apple, cut it into quarters, remove the core and slice it thinly (3 mm) with the skin on. Arrange the slices in a rosette on the batter and sprinkle with the remaining 10 g of sugar.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the middle of the oven, until the cake is golden and risen and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Don't open the oven during the first 20 minutes, or it will sink.
7. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before slicing: the apple sauce makes it very moist, and it holds together better once cold.