There is an amazing, classic French cake called invisible apple cake. We will talk about that again soon, but for the moment, I crave ginger, cinnamon, and anything else that would have drawn Hansel and Gretel to the fateful gingerbread house in the woods.

Enter the invisible apple gingerbread cake. It gives the hit of spice that is needed to face a snowstorm and, if you happen to have the self-discipline usually reserved for saints, tastes even better the day after you make it. It also sneaks in enough apples to let you feel just a tiny bit virtuous when you are eating it.

Makes: One 8″ cake, about enough to serve 6-8 people

Ingredients:

• 5 gala apples
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese (yes, you read that right)
• 2 tsp molasses
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees f
2. Butter an 8″ cake pan (try to pick one with tall sides) and line the bottom with parchment
3. Peel the apples and slice them very thin. If you happen to have a food mandolin and crave a little excitement in your life, this is your chance
4. Using a stand mixer, beat butter (1/2 cup) and sugar (1 cup) together until they are soft and fluffy, about 2 minutes
5. Add eggs (4), ricotta (1/4 cup), molasses (2 tsp) and vanilla (1 tsp) and beat in until smooth and creamy (another couple of minutes)
6. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour (1 1/2 cups), salt (1/2 tsp), baking powder (1 tsp), baking soda (1/2 tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp), ginger (1 1/2 tsp), nutmeg (1/4 tsp) and cloves (1/4 tsp)
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined
8. Fold in the sliced apples
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out fairly clean and the edges of the cake pull away a bit from the pan

Notes:

• You would not be wrong to serve this with a bit of vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream. You would also not be wrong to eat any leftovers for breakfast with a cup of coffee and a bit of yoghurt. Really, it is hard to go wrong with this cake!