Upside down apple, cinnamon and butterscotch cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Generously grease a deep 22cm fluted cake tin or baking dish.

Place the butter and sugar in a saucepan and gently stir until the sugar has melted. Bring to the boil and allow to bubble away until thick and golden brown, for a few minutes. Stir in the vanilla and fresh cream and remove from the heat.

Pour this butterscotch mixture into the greased cake tin. Arrange the apple slices on top, overlapping them to fit the base of the tin or mould. It doesn’t matter if you need to follow it with a second layer, as long as all of the apples are used.

Cream the butter and castor sugar until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the egg yolks, milk, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth.

Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the batter and carefully pour over the apples.

Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, for 40 – 45 minutes. It is done when a cake tester is inserted into the middle and it comes out clean but still slightly moist. Depending on your oven temperature, space and size, the cake can either bake slightly less or more than the recommended baking time. Check at 10-minute intervals after the first 30 minutes of baking.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then loosen the sides with a knife. Carefully turn out onto a cake stand or serving dish and decorate with fresh apple slices and butterscotch sauce if preferred. It tastes great warm or serve it once cooled with some whipped cream or ice cream.