Apple-Grand Marnier Cake

Ingredients

• 200 g Flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 120 g cold butter (crumbled)
• 70 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 kg tart apples (e.g., Boskop or Cox Orange)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 200 ml heavy cream (at least 30% fat)
• 1 packet gelatin powder
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• 100 ml Grand Marnier
• 1 packet vanilla pudding mix (for cooking with 500 ml milk)
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• 200 ml apple juice
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 60 g sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• 1 apple
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan or conventional. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Quickly knead in butter, sugar, and egg until combined. Wrap dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Peel, quarter, core apples, slice crosswise, and drizzle with lemon juice.

2. 2.

   Line a cake tin with parchment paper. Roll out the dough and lay it in the tin, forming an edge. Cover with parchment, sprinkle with peas, and blind bake for about 20 minutes. Remove, discard parchment and peas, and let the base cool.

3. 3.

   Whisk 4 tbsp apple juice with pudding mix and cornstarch. In a saucepan bring remaining juice, wine, sugar, and vanilla sugar to a boil. Stir in the prepared pudding mixture, cook briefly until thickened. Pour into a bowl, dust with icing sugar, and chill slightly. Fold in apples and spread over the cooled cake base. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

4. 4.

   Beat cream with gelatin powder and vanilla sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread cloud‑like on the cake. Fill a freezer bag with Grand Marnier, cut a small corner, and drizzle thin lines over the cream. Just before serving wash and dry an apple (do not peel), slice thinly without coring, drizzle with lemon juice, let drain, and garnish the cake. Slice and serve.