Gâteau Invisible (Invisible Apple Cake)

We have a very active parent community at our kids’ school. At a recent party for the adults, I wanted to make something that would be easy to eat (without utensils), used the remaining apples we had from apple picking, and also be something not too pedestrian. This “invisible” cake checked all the boxes.

I had never heard of this dessert before, but apparently, gâteau invisible aux pommes is popular in France. It’s similar to a clafouti in that the fruit is bound together with a batter that’s somewhere between custard and cake. Looking in my archives, it sounds similar to these custardy apple squares.

What makes it “invisible” is that the thinly sliced apples nearly disappear into the batter after baking. The recipe I used puts a Japanese spin on it, by incorporating white miso into the batter, and an optional miso caramel sauce.

The mix of apples I used included many, very small Galas. Combined with using a too-thin setting on the adjustable slicer on my food processor, there were a LOT of apple slices to shingle into the loaf pan. The instructions are specific on this point so as to make the cooked slices have nice, even layers. But it was extremely labour intensive for my daughter and I. We ended up just dumping most of the apples in the middle, and placing the flat sides of apple flush with the edges.

I really enjoyed this cake. Right out of the even, the slices were a bit wet. But the tender apple and the hint of miso made it very satisfying. My daughter tasted banana bread flavours! An unusual cake. I would definitely make this again, but using larger apples, and slightly thicker slices to make assembly easier.