Apfelkuchen: apple cake with apricot glaze

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175 °C conventional or 155 °C fan. Line the base of the 24 cm springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides with the additional 5 g of butter.
2. Peel the apples, cut them into quarters and remove the cores. Score the curved side of each quarter several times with parallel cuts, without cutting all the way through. Toss with the lemon juice and set aside.
3. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt with the whisk for about 3 minutes, until you have a pale cream. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds after each. If the cream splits a little, fold in a tablespoon of the already weighed flour.
4. Mix the remaining flour with the baking powder and fold it in briefly, at low speed, together with the milk: stop when you can no longer see dry flour. Level the batter in the tin. Arrange the apple quarters with the cuts facing up, pressing them in lightly.
5. Bake on the second rack from the bottom for 45–55 minutes. From minute 45 test with a toothpick in an area of batter near the centre, avoiding the apples: it must come out without liquid batter. If the surface darkens too early, cover gently with baking paper and continue baking.
6. Heat the jam with 2 teaspoons of water in a small saucepan, stirring until it becomes fluid and begins to bubble. For a smooth glaze, strain it through a sieve if necessary. Brush a thin layer over the still-warm apples, without letting the excess run over the whole cake.
7. Leave the cake in the tin for about 15 minutes. Carefully open the ring and let it cool on a wire rack for about 60 minutes in total before cutting.