The mysterious invisible cake - France, Russia, Japan?
- rosemary
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
"It seems to me that invisibility is the required provision of elegance. Elegance ceases to exist when it is noticed." Jean Cocteau
Tuesday is the day that Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen newsletter arrives in my inbox. Today - seeing as how it is autumn - well fall - over there in the US of A - she was focussed on apples, and amongst the many delectable recipes on offer was this Invisible apple cake, which she likened to Apple sharlotka - a Russian cake that she had written about years before.
My quote about elegance and invisibility is more apposite than I at first thought, because she says of her Invisible apple cake: "I think of this as Sharlotka 2.0: Fancy Pants Edition." and that: "The biggest difference is how the apples are cut — thin, very thin." I think she may be putting her Russian cake down a little because it also looks extremely elegant, but yes the apples are a rather more haphazardly cut.
I'm writing about this because I have another family dinner coming up on Sunday, this time to celebrate the middle grandson's 15th birthday. He has requested the dreaded meatballs for the main dish - well perhaps I am being mean in calling them dreaded. They are hugely anticipated by the family but slightly dreaded by me because of the ages it takes to roll all those meatballs.
Anyway, when I saw the invisible cake I thought that this would be a really good dessert - impressive, but probably delicious, and not very experimental - well you can't really go wrong with apples and custard can you? Because that's basically what it is - very thinly sliced apples, layered carefully in a loaf tin and a thin batter of butter, sugar, flour, vanilla and milk, poured over the top. Very simple, although all that slicing of apples on a mandoline will probably be a bit labour intensive. The thinner the better because that's why 'invisible' The apples disappear into the batter.
In the sharlotka the apples are in friendly lumps with gaps in between, so not as compressed:
"I was even more fascinated when I realised how close the recipe was to sharlotka: They’re both mostly comprised of apples tethered by a simple batter of one cup of flour, three eggs, and one cup, or a little less, of sugar. The French version adds milk, which I found makes the batter softer." Deb Perelman
Apart from the snag of using the mandoline, which I have not yet quite mastered, there is the fact that this a birthday dinner, so is this a suitable birthday cake? Maybe the Russian one is more birthday like? A question yet to be decided I think. There is also the problem of it being spring over here, and so the apples are not really in season. But we always have apples in Australia, so that's not really a problem. It doesn't even seem to be a matter of money this year either - they're expensive all the time.
What kind of apples though? Deb Perelman used Granny Smith's but David Lebovitz for one, insisted that the French used a mixture or apples of the Pink Lady, Fuji kind. Crisper ones. And I think I'll go with that.
But what about the Japanese? Well it seems that back in 2017, through the power of social media it became a thing over there - nobody seems to know why - but the world of influencers is a mystery to me. The Japanese, however put their own spin on it by adding miso to the mix - as shown here in the Serious Eats Gâteau invisible by Tim Chin. There is miso in the batter and miso in the caramel sauce with which it is served.
Having mastered the fact that it is called invisible because the apples almost disappear into the batter - "what is essential is invisible to the eye." says Antoine de Saint-Exupery in a rather pertinent way. I was also told in almost every recipe introduction that I looked at that it originated in France, so I started to wonder when and who 'invented' it.? It does indeed look a little fancy - even elegant - so it is unlikely therefore to have originated in peasant kitchens. Although that said the Russian sharlotka could have. After all you just need a glut of apples, some apples, sugar milk and flour which are simple enough. And an oven. But here's the thing - nobody has a definitive answer on this. The name of the famous Joël Robuchon was mentioned a couple of times, but not with much conviction. You would think would you not that this being such a French Pâtisserie kind of thing that either a town or village, or an actual pastry cook would take ownership to increase their fame or tourism. But no, so all I would glean from this is that it's a relatively recent invention. No strange or funny origin story here people. Interestingly the Brits don't seem to have got into this.
There was not a lot of variation in the recipes I found. Some added a glug of Calvados or brandy to the mix, there was that argument about which kind of apple, and some went upmarket with crème fraïche or cream, and scattered flaked almonds on top. A few served it with a caramel sauce, or jam or fruit compôte, but really they were all very similar. I almost forgot - the French apparently definitely don't add cinnamon and only occasionally vanilla, but lots of others added either one or both of those. So here is a selection for those who might be interested. Invisible apple cake - David Lebovitz; Gâteau invisible - America's Test Kitchen; Invisible apple cake - Modern Nonna and Gâteau invisible aux pommes - Lembit Lounge Cuisine
If I do go for this on Sunday I think I shall choose Deb Perelman's version - shown here - but with non Granny Smith apples - just because she was the one who put me on to it. And maybe with a caramel sauce. Definitely ice cream and/or crème fraïche.
If it works I shall be pleased, because it does look professional. Even elegant. Not that a 15 year old boy and his similarly aged cousins would care much about that.
I wonder why the Brits haven't gone for it though? It's a mystery.
YEARS GONE BY
October 21
2021 - Do I stop eating salmon?
2020 - Missing
2018 - The food of love
2017 - Broccoli
2016 - A word from Elizabeth David
Looking forward to whichever one you choose to do!