Comfort Food

Invisible Apple Cake (Gâteau Invisible) 🍎

A rectangular apple cake dusted with powdered sugar sits on a wooden cutting board. One slice is cut and laid in front, revealing layers of apple inside the cake. The background is softly blurred. - 1

Prep

20 minutes

Cook

1 hour

Yield

This Invisible Apple Cake is packed with ultra-thin apple slices and warm spices, creating soft, cozy layers with just enough batter to hold it all together. 🍎

If cozy holiday vibes had a dessert form, this would be it. This Invisible Apple Cake is soft, warmly spiced, and layered with thin slices of apple that bake up tender, perfectly sweet, and fragrant. Then they are all tied together with a splash of eggnog and maple syrup. It’s a festive loaf but honestly delicious any time of year. Make it for a weekend treat, a holiday brunch, or for enjoying with your afternoon coffee or tea.

A sliced loaf of apple cake dusted with powdered sugar sits on a wooden cutting board, with a soft, golden-brown crust and visible apple layers inside. - 2

❤️ Why You’ll Love Invisible Apple Cake

Comforting : Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, apple, eggnog, and maple are a dream team in this Apple Cake, making it the ultimate comfort treat.
Fancy with 0 Effort: I love a sweet treat or dessert that doesn’t require too much effort but tastes amazing and this recipe is that! The apple layering makes it gorgeous, but it’s actually so easy to make.
Make-Ahead: This cake gets better after it fully cools, making it perfect for entertaining or gifting. You can make it ahead and serve it when your guests arrive or after dinner.

A 1-quart bottle of Shamrock Farms Vanilla Spice Eggnog with a green cap sits on a counter. The label features images of vanilla beans, a vanilla flower, and a cartoon cow. - 3

🍲 Ingredients

Eggnog – Eggnog adds a little bit of richness and festive flavor that makes this cake feel extra special without overpowering the apples. It also helps keep the crumb soft and tender, giving the loaf that cozy, bakery-style texture.

Apples – Thinly sliced apples are the star of the show, baking down into soft, delicious layers that run through every bite. Using a firm, slightly tart apple helps balance the sweetness and keeps the slices from turning mushy in the oven.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Invisible Apple Cake

Preheat the oven to 375F.
Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or butter and then line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang of parchment paper on the long sides of the pan to help remove the cake once baked.
In a small bowl whisk together the all purpose flour, ground cinnamon, kosher salt, ground nutmeg and pinch of ground cloves. Set aside.
In another small bowl whisk together the eggnog, melted butter, vanilla extract and maple syrup until combined. Set aside.
Prepare the apples: Peel and core the apples. Slice into ⅛ inch thin slices using a mandolin or sharp knife and then slice the apple ‘circles’ in half to get half-moon shapes. Set aside in a bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer with the whisk attachment to beat the eggs and sugar together until pale, about 90 seconds. (Alternatively you can do this by hand using a whisk, this will take about 2 minutes).
Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Next add all of the eggnog mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Finally add the remaining flour mixture and mix until just combined and the batter is smooth.
Add the thinly sliced apples to the batter and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to gently mix the apples into the batter until coated. Set aside 12 slices of apple to use to decorate the top of the cake.
Use your hands to layer the apples into the loaf pan, overlapping the slices in rows with the cut sides of the apples facing the out edges of the pan. Evenly distribute the apples across the loaf pan, layer by layer, until the pan is full and all of the apple slices are used.
Pour any remaining batter over the apple slices in the pan. Then, press down gently on the top of the cake and then tap the loaf pan gently on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles in the cake. Use the reserved 12 apple slices to decorate the top of the cake as you see fit.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 60-70 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time, until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean / batter-free and the top is golden brown. When done, place on a cooling rack and let cool for 1-2 hours.
After the cake has cooled for 2 hours, run a small knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Use the overhanging parchment paper to remove the cake from the pan to a serving tray or cutting board.
In a small bowl whisk together the icing sugar and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
Whip the Shamrock Farms Heavy Whipping Cream into a fluffy whipped topping.
Use a sharp knife to cut the cake into slices and top sliced with the eggnog whipping cream and/or dust with the cinnamon icing sugar mixture.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

Slice Apples Thin : A mandolin is your best friend here to make thin slices as they bake evenly and create that stunning layered look.
Let Cool : Letting the cake cool fully helps it set and makes slicing way cleaner (worth the wait).
Rotate Midway : Turning the pan halfway through ensures even baking and a perfectly golden top.
Mix Gently : Fold the apples in carefully to keep the batter light and avoid breaking up the slices.
Serving : The cake is fab on its own, but the eggnog whipped cream or cinnamon sugar dusting makes it super magical for the holiday season.

🗒 Substitutions

Eggnog : Use half-and-half, whole milk, or oat milk with a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon to keep that cozy spice vibe. Eggnog is hard to find outside of the holiday season so this is a great substitute if you want to make this Invisible Apple Cake any other time of year.
Maple Syrup: Swap in honey or brown sugar (use about the same amount).
Butter : Melted coconut oil or a neutral oil like avocado oil will work just fine and keep the cake moist.
All-Purpose Flour: Try a 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour if needed. Swapping for just almond flour alone is a bit too soft here.
Apples : Pears are a great alternative, or do a mix of apples and pears for extra flavor depth.
Granulated Sugar: Use coconut sugar or light brown sugar for a slightly deeper, warmer sweetness.
Heavy Whipping Cream: Replace with coconut cream (chilled and whipped) for a dairy-free topping.

🍽️ Best served with

No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Cashew Cardamom Vanilla Latte

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store cake, without whipped cream, tightly wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 2 days. You can also make it last longer by storing it in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this cake or slices of it in plastic wrap, then a layer of foil. It’ll last in the freezer for up to 3 months. Keeping the whipped cream separate is key here!

🤔 Common Questions

An Invisible Apple Cake is a lightly sweetened cake made with lots of thinly sliced apples and just enough batter to hold everything together. Once baked, the apples seem to “disappear” into soft, custardy layers and this is why it gets its name “invisible”.

Firm apples that hold their shape are key. Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Gala all work great and give a nice balance of sweetness and structure.

Aim for about ⅛-inch thick or thinner. A mandolin makes this easiest, but a sharp knife works too. The thinner the slices, the better the cake will set and layer.

This usually means the apples were sliced too thick or the cake needs more time in the oven. Oven temperatures can vary, so don’t rush it. Tent cake with foil if needed and bake until a skewer in the centre comes out clean and the cake has had plenty of time to cool and set.