Gateau Invisible is a very fancy cake, where the apples are thinly sliced, baked in a batter and basically disappear. Served with caramel sauce, it is a delectable dessert, and one I urge you to make at least once.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Gateau Invisible ♥
Inspired to make Gateau Invisible
One reality cooking show I love watching is Bake Off: The Professionals. Here, professional teams of pastry chefs are pitted against one another in a series of challenges. Now, I rate my pastry skills quite high for a novice. But these bakes are something else. And as soon as I saw Gateau Invisible on the show, I knew I had to make it. In this cake, thinly sliced apples are dipped in a batter before being placed into a cake tin. During the baking and setting process, the apples ‘disappear’ so that the can barely be seen. Now, I have to admit that this was an intensive labour of love. But totally worth all the effort. I used the recipe from Serious Eats as inspiration as I had some white miso lurking in my recipe cupboard.
Changes I would make
There are things I would do differently if I made this again. The recipe said to peel and core the apples before slicing. I would peel and then slice the cheeks without bothering to core the apple. Using a mandilon, this is not too difficult. You will get lovely round slices from doing the two opposite cheeks, and slices with clean edges by slicing the smaller cheeks afterwards. These clean edge slices are what you want to use for the edge of the cake. And the larger ones for the middle. I would also leave one apple for the very end to make sure I get some lovely slices for the top. As I did all the apples at once, I had to dig around in the batter to find these. Also, be prepared to spend quite some time layering the apples!
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Gateau Invisible ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Gateau Invisible With White Miso Caramel
Equipment
- digital thermometer
Ingredients
for the cake:
- 28 g butter
- 54 g sweet white miso
- 120 mls milk, divided
- 133 g fructose
- 3 eggs
- 142 g flour, plus extra for dusting
- 5 mls baking powder
- 1.1 kg pink apples
for the caramel:
- 120 g fructose
- 60 mls water
- 180 mls cream
- 36 g white miso
Method
for the cake:
- Line a loaf tin with baking paper, making sure the paper hangs over the long edges
- Spray with cooking spray and lightly dust the bottom and sides with flour
- Place the butter into a microwave safe bowl and melt in the microwave
- Add the miso to the butter and whisk to combine
- Add 30 mls milk and whisk until smooth
- Add the rest of the milk and whisk until smooth, then set aside
- Place the fructose and eggs into a stand mixer bowl and whisk until pale and glossy
- Place the flour and baking powder into a bowl and whisk to combine
- Add half to the stand mixer bowl and whisk until just combined
- Add the milk mixture and whisk to combine, then add the rest of the flour and whisk until smooth
- Peel the apples and slice them 5mm thick, and add to the batter as you slice them
- Make sure to dunk them in the batter using a spatula
- Once all but one of the apples has been sliced, start layering them in the tin
- You want to line the straight edges up with the outside of the tin, and use the round ones for the middle
- Once all of these apples have been used up, press them down to distribute them evenly
- Cut the last apple in half after peeling, slice 5mm thick, and dunk the slices into the batter
- Create an overlapping layer for the top then pour any remaining batter into the tin
- Gently tap the tin to get rid of any air pockets and to distribute the batter
- While the batter settles, preheat the oven to 190° Celsius
- Place the tin onto a baking tray then place into the oven to bake for 75 minutes
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin, on a wire rack, for 10 minutes
- Loosen the edges with an offset spatula then leave to cool on the rack for 2 hours
- Carefully lift the cake using the baking paper, and place onto the wire rack to cool completely, while you make the carmel
for the caramel:
- Place the fructose and water into a saucepan and heat over a medium temperature
- Stir with a fork until the fructose dissolves
- Bring to a boil then lower the temperature and simmer without stirring
- When the caramel is a rich honey colour, swirl the pan then place back on the heat and cook for 1 minute
- Add the cream while stirring constantly with a spatula and allow to simmer until the caramel reaches 105° Celsius
- Remove from the heat, add the miso and whisk until smooth
- Place the caramel into a jug, slice the cake into 2.5cm thick slices and serve with a good drizzle of the caramel
- If tou don't use all the caramel you can store it in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge and use as needed
Notes
See the links below for blog posts I published on August 6:
- 2023: Things I Wish I Told My Mother
- 2021: Chocolate Fudge Truffles
- 2018: Green Scones
- 2015: August 2015 Showcasing In My Kitchen
- 2013: Sourdough Scones
- 2012: Grape And Blueberry Flaugnarde
- 2011: Smokey Chicken
- 2010: Nero Risotto With Peas And Prawns
Looks delicious
Thank you Sheree 🙂
HI Tandy, this sounds really good.
This is worth the effort 🙂
I admire your dedication Tandy. I am not a patient or detailed type person; more of a slap bang gal! It sounds terrific!
I might do this again in a slap bang style, as the result is amazing 🙂
Wow. This looks wonderful!
Thank you for the compliment!
I love fruit cakes especially apple. This looks delicious !
Thank you, it was delicious 🙂
Certainly a labor of love. I think I’ve had this cake 40ish years ago on holiday in France.
I would eat it more ofen if someone else did the baking 😉