Preheat the oven to 175C.
Prepare a 9” round cake tin by lining it with parchment or greaseproof paper and buttering it lightly.
Coat the apple wedges in the lemon juice and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar, using an electric hand mixer, until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Beat in vanilla extract.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and gently fold into the batter, in batches, with the milk. Mix well after each addition, until you have a smooth batter. Transfer the batter to the cake tin.
Arrange the apple slices, flat-side down, on the batter in a spiral pattern.
For the topping, mix together the demerara sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the batter.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes – 50min , or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean and the top is golden-brown. Leave to cool for 15 minutes in the tin. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and turn it out of the tin onto a wire rack.
Optional step
If serving as a dessert, serve warm with whipped cream. Add some honey and vanilla extract to the cream.
Before serving – for a gloriously caramelised finish, sprinkle on a little more sugar on the top of cake and use a blow torch to brûlée the top.
Recipe Notes
It’s easy to warm the cake in the microwave for a few short bursts.