Caramel apple layer:
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Lightly butter a 23cm round cake pan and line its bottom with a round of baking paper.
In a light-coloured or stainless-steel saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat, with occasional stirring, until it’s fully melted. The sugar will initially clump together – don’t worry, that doesn’t mean that it’s crystallising. Just continue stirring until it’s fully melted. If there are any persistent clumps of sugar, reduce the heat to low and continue stirring until all the clumps disappear.
Continue cooking the caramel (melted sugar) with constant stirring over medium heat until it reaches an amber colour.
Once you've reached the desired colour, remove the caramel from the heat and pour in the warm cream, mixing constantly. Be careful as the addition of cream will release a large amount of hot steam and it might bubble up quite violently.
Add the vanilla and mix well, then pour the hot caramel into the bottom of the lined cake pan and smooth it out into an even layer.
Arrange the apple slices on top of the caramel, overlapping them slightly. Set aside until needed.
Spiced apple cake:
In a large bowl, whisk together the
granulated sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk everything together into a smooth, fairly runny cake batter with no flour clumps.
Add the chopped apples and fold them in until they're evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Pour the batter on top of the caramel apple layer.
Bake at 180ºC for about 45 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on top, well risen and an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. If the cake starts browning too much or too quickly, cover it with a sheet of aluminium foil (shiny side up) and continue baking until done.
Inverting the cake:
Allow the cake to cool for 5-10 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a large plate while it's still hot. (Run a knife or a small offset spatula along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan if necessary.)
Tip: Don’t cool it for longer than that, otherwise your cake can end up sticking to the baking pan when you try to remove it.
Serve the cake either warm or cooled completely to room temperature.
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